The Dual Bending Warrior
by SoulReaperCrewe
Summary: After a beating on his eighth birthday, Naruto Uzumaki is teleported to the Avatar World by the Nine Tailed Fox. Raised as a member of Fire Nation and friend to the children of the Fire lord, Naruto slowly discovers the pain Fire Nation is causing and sets out to stop Fire Nation once and for all with Team Avatar. Naruto/Ty Lee pairing. On Hold
1. The New World

Chapter One

Eight Years ago on October tenth the village hidden in the leaves known as Konohagakure was attacked by the mightiest and strongest of the fabled tailed beasts known as the Nine Tailed Demon Fox. A creature so powerful it was said to be able to create tsunami's and crush mountains with just a flick of its tail.

The night the fox attacked the Fourth Hokage, leader and strongest shinobi of the village fought a long and hard battle against the creature and eventually drove it away from the weakened village.

The Hokage known as Minato Namikaze knew he could not defeat the beast so he sacrificed his life and sealed the beast inside of a newborn baby.

That baby was Naruto Uzumaki. For the next eight years despite the fourth Hokage wanting the village to see Naruto as a hero, they did the very opposite. They treated him like the plague. They avoided him at all costs, told their children not to go anywhere near him saying that he was a bad influence and would turn them evil.

Naruto had endured seven years off loneliness and he only had a few people that treated him with kindness. There was the Third Hokage who would treat him to ramen from time to time and see how he was like a grandfather figure to Naruto.

Then there was Itachi who protected him at times from the villagers when they turned nasty and acted like an older brother to him.

Then there was the Ichiraku's. They were the only people in the whole village who gave him food and Ayame would even give him a hug when she saw him. He looked at them like a big sister and uncle figures.

All in all these four people were the only ones that treated him like a human being and kept his life from falling into complete darkness.

It was the night of Naruto's Eighth birthday when his world would be turned upside down and his adventure and new life would begin.

"KILL THE DEMON"

"MAKE IT PAY FOR KILLING ARE LOVED ONES"

"FINISH WHAT THE FOURTH STARTED"

These were the shouts that rang throughout the streets of hidden leaf village known as Konoha as a mob of angry villagers chased after a small and frightened Eight year old who had spiky untamed hair, piercing blue eyes with peculiar whisker like marks on his cheeks.

The little boy that was being chased was none other than Naruto Uzumaki.

"Why?" the little boy thought as he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him. "What have I done? I don't remember ever hurting anyone."

Every single day he was either glared at, refused food and clothes from shops, bullied at the academy and sometimes his apartment was even broken into and destroyed.

However every October tenth, the day of his birthday came the annual fox hunt as the villagers liked to call it. Every year was the same, he would be beaten by the villagers for god knows how long until Anbu would stop them. He would then find himself waking up in the hospital where the nurses would sneer at him and would kick him out the moment he woke up.

As he continued to run he turned from the street and into a narrow alley way. Naruto ran and ran until the worst happened. He ran into a dead end. He turned around but to his horror there was the angry mob all with weapons that ranged from kitchen knives to pitchforks. Some even had touches as they all glared at the seven year old with as much malice as they could conjure.

"You have got nowhere to run now demon boy" one of the mob leaders said who happened to be a woman with pink hair that looked very exotic and reminded him off the pink haired girl in his class at the academy.

"Please I have not done anything" Naruto said as began to step back before his found himself against a wall.

"Have not done anything? HAVE NOT DONE ANYTHING?" the pink haired woman shouted before she slapped Naruto across the face knocking him down to the ground with a red hand print now marking his face.

"It's because of you I lost my husband demon brat" she shrieked out before she began stomping on Naruto.

"AND MY BROTHER" another said as they too began to attack Naruto.

"AND MY DAUGHTER"

"AND MY PARENTS"

Slowly the entire mob began to attack Naruto as they kicked, punched, stabbed or slashed his tiny body with whatever they had on them.

Naruto was currently pinned down to the ground and felt every hit on his small body before he felt his blood beginning to cover his body due to the fresh wounds on him. The last thing he saw was the face of the shrieking pink haired woman before his vision began to blacken and he fell unconscious, his not being able to stay awake any longer.

* * *

**Mindscape**

Naruto opened his and he found himself looking up at a concrete sealing with cracks marking its way all along it. It was only when he stood up that he noticed his feet was stepping in dirty water.

The place looked like some kind of sewer but he had no idea how he got there in the first place. The place felt familiar but he couldn't place it.

There was a long corridor in front of him and curiosity got the better of him. Right now anything was better than having to deal with the violent villagers.

He trudged is way through the murky water that weren't up to his ankles before he found himself in a large room with a giant cage that was easily the size of the Hokage mountain.

"What is this" Naruto whispered.

_"**So my tenant has finally decided to grace me with his presence"**_ a voice boomed out catching Naruto completely of guard and making him jump back in fright.

"W-Who's there?" Naruto stuttered out.

_"_**_I am"_ **the voice called out before Naruto's eye widened in fear when he saw two giant red eyes with slits for pupils appear and begin staring back at him. Naruto's eyes began to adjust to the darkness and began to make out a shape of a body before he saw the body was covered in reddish orange fur. There was deep black marking around the eyes and a jaw filled with razor sharp teeth. However what stood out the most was the nine swaying tails behind the giant creature.

_"**Do you know who I am?"** _The creature said as it leaned its giant head towards Naruto and stared at him through the bars of its cell.

Naruto was by now petrified with fear. He knew exactly who this creature was from the pictures he saw of it in books but he couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth.

_"_**_Say it. Say who I am_"** the creature goaded before Naruto eventually whispered out-

"The Kyuubi."

The giant fox let out a low chuckle and he continued to scare at the small blonde boy in front of him.

_"**Tell me do you fear me boy?"**_

"Y-Yes I do" Naruto stuttered out.

The Kyuubi looked at Naruto with intensity before suddenly his face softened and he let out a huge sigh.

_"**Well don't. I won't harm you. I couldn't even if I tried"** _he said as one of his tails flicked the bars on the cage.

"Huh?" Naruto said with a confused expression.

_"_**_I'm sealed inside you. This seal is stopping me from escaping and trying to influence you. Though I could influence you if you got angry enough but you don't seem like the angry type._"**

"Can I ask you a question? Naruto asked putting his hand up to which the giant fox raised its eyebrows and nodded.

"How are you here? I thought the fourth Hokage killed you" he said to which the giant fox snorted.

_"**As if I could be killed. I am a mass of chakra therefore it impossible for me to die. No that father of yours the Fourth Hokage sealed me inside of you in order to save the village.**_

"WAIT" Naruto shouted. "The Fourth Hokage is my father?"

_"**Yes he is. The Hokage and the elders believed it was best to keep it from you saying they did not want enemies like Iwa or Kumo getting to you. Your father had a bit of a bad reputation with them. "So they kept your heritage a secret. A lot of good it did when you're the spitting image of that man yet you act just like your mother."**_

Naruto's eye widened. "Y-You know who my mother is?" he asked to which the fox nodded.

_"**I do. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki. She also happens to be the person I was sealed into before I ended up in here"**_ he said shocking Naruto. _**"Your mother was the previous jinchurikii."**_

"Jinchurikii?" He asked.

_"**It's another word for human sacrificed or demon container. Jinchurikii is the name commonly referred to someone with a tailed beast inside them."**_

"If you were sealed into my momma, then how did you get out and why did you attack the village?" Naruto asked feeling slightly angry wanting to know why the Kyuubi killed so many people and what happened to his mother.

_"**The day of your birth your mother and father went to a secure location where she could give birth to you. With a female jinchurikii there is one moment in time where the seal that keeps their tailed beast at bay is weakened. Everything at first went fine, you were born with problems and your father managed to keep the seal intact."**_

_"**However a man wearing mask took you and threatened your life. Your father managed to get you from him but the masked man disappeared taking your mother with him. That man was later found out to be none other than Madara Uchiha."**_

"Madara Uchiha? I thought he was dead" Naruto said with a frown and he listened intently to the story being told.

_"**I believed that too. Yet somehow he was still alive. He took your mother and broke the seal and unleashed me. I was watching everything from within the seal and was about to attack him but those damn eyes of his got to me first. Before I knew it I was under his control and he sent me to attack the village."**_

"Hold on. So you didn't mean to attack the village. It was all this Madara Uchiha who caused it all" he said to which the fox nodded. "Wow."

_"**Anyway eventually your father managed to find your mother and get her to safety and reunite her with you. He then managed to break the hold Madara had on me before he teleported me away from the village. Despite no longer being hypnotised I was angry and full of rage and what was happening that I let my anger take over and I became a mindless beast."**_

_"**It was then that the fourth decided to seal me inside of you. He brought you and your mother to the area where we were and initiated the sealing by using the ****Dead Demon Sealing Technique****. It is a technique that takes the users life. Your father died after the sealing and your mother perished seconds later due to the strain of having me extracted from her. They were good people."**_

"D-Did they love me?" Naruto asked looking down at floor. He was close to the cage so the Kyuubi used one of its tails to wrap around him and comfort him.

_"**From the time I was in your mother I saw everything she saw and sometimes what she felt. The nine months she was carrying you were the happiest days of her life. She loved you more than life it's self and never let anyone tell you any different."**_

"T-Thank you" Naruto said looking up at the fox with watery eyes. "You know you're not too bad for a big evil demon" he said causing the giant fox to roll its eyes and chuckle slightly before the Kyuubi turned serious.

**_"Naruto if I told you we could leave this place and start a new life somewhere would you want to?_"** The fox asked making Naruto think.

"W-Well I'm not sure. I always wanted to be Hokage but now I don't know if it could ever happen. All the villagers think I'm evil."

_"**Kid let me tell you those fools will never change. Humanity is all well and good but when it comes to things they don't fully understand they fear it and act out."**_

"So I will never become Hokage?" Naruto asked slightly saddened to which the fox nodded.

"**As much as I want to say you can I would be lying. But I can take you to another world. A world where they won't know about your burden and you can have a normal life.**

"You can really do that?" Naruto said. "What is this world?"

_**It is my home world. Myself and the other tailed beasts are not originally from this world. A long time ago the tailed beasts were once one single entity known as the Juubi. A great spirit that was once sought piece over the lands. One day the Juubi crossed worlds and ended up in the Elemental Nations. However the Elemental Nations were a cruel place where evil and destruction littered the land that drove the Juubi mad. It was only when a man known as the Sage of the Six Paths stopped the Juubi and sealed the Great Spirit into himself and becoming the first Jinchurikii.**_

The Kyuubi looked down to see Naruto listening intently to the story and continued.

_"**On his death bed he used what power he had left to split the power of the Juubi into nine separate beings that later became the nine tailed beasts. I and the other sprits became known as the children of the Juubi and once created were sent back to our home world. For almost a century the world we lived in was at piece before our curiosity got the better of us and we left and sought to see the Elemental Nations for ourselves just like the Juubi once did. But when we crossed over the Shinobi that had grown in strength and by then had found ways to seal us away and use us as weapons on each other. My youngest brother Shukaku went mad just like the Juubi did because of that.**_

The Kyuubi sighed sadly as he looked down to see Naruto looking at him with sad eyes.

"You want go home don't you?" Naruto said causing Kyuubi to flinch before nodding.

_"**Yes I do. I miss my home very much."**_

"What your home world like?"

_"**Well its split into different nations similar to this world. You have the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, the Air Temples and then the Water Tribes. Each land is different but I don't know how much it has changed since I have not been there in a very long time.**_

"If we go there can you promise we could have a fresh start? No one will glare at me or beat me" Naruto asked not wanting to go somewhere where he would be treated just like he did in the village.

_"_**_I can promise you won't. Spirits are greatly respected in that world and many worship and pray to them. However to be on the safe side we won't tell anyone that i reside within you just incase_" **the Kyuubi said making Naruto nod in understanding.

Naruto was sat their contemplating what to do. On one hand he could start a new life and finally be treated like a human being. But if he went it meant never seeing the few people he cared about in the village again. He would never see the Hokage, the Ichiraku's or Itachi again. But this time he finally wanted something for himself and wanted to be treated just like everyone else.

"Let's do it. Let's go start a new life in your home world" Naruto said getting a big toothy smile cross the Kyuubi's face.

_"**Thank you** **kid"**_ he said. _"**For that you have my thanks and gratitude. I will reward you with telling you my name. No one, not even your mother knew my real name. You may call me Kurama."**_

"Well Kurama it's nice to meet you" he said holding out his hand. Kurama's eyebrows rose slightly before the tip of one of his tails shook his hand.

_"_**_It's nice to meet you to Naruto Uzumaki. Now hold on because we are about to cross worlds. I have not done it in some time so I don't know where in the four nations we will end up. Let's just hope it's not in the middle of an ocean or desert"_ **Kurama said causing Naruto to gulp before nodding.

* * *

**Real World**

"Is it dead?" the villagers said as they finally stopped the beating towards Naruto and stared down at his bloody beaten form.

"I'll check" the pink haired woman said as she slowly approached Naruto's unconscious form. However as she reached out with her hands a gloved hand grabbed her and she looked up to see an Anbu member wearing a weasel mask.

"You have made a big mistake tonight" he said laced with venom before a group of Anbu surrounded the mob and the Hokage appearing in-between them and Naruto.

"Cat" Hiruzen Sarutobi said getting the cat mask wearing anbu's attention. "You and the others are to take them to Ibiki and Anko."

The moment Ibiki's name was mentioned the mob went pale white. Everyone knew who Ibiki the sadist was and began to cry out saying it was an accident or they didn't do anything however that was quickly silenced when the group of Anbu and the mob disappeared in a gust of leaves leaving only Weasel and the Hokage in the area.

"When will this stop?" Sarutobi said as he kneeled down besides Naruto as Weasel took his mask off to reveal himself as Itachi Uchiha.

"I'm beginning to think the Fourth Hokage made the wrong decision in making Naruto the container the Nine Tailed Fox. At the rate it is going he won't make it past his tenth birthday."

"Every year it just gets worse and worse. Sometimes I wish I could just take him away from here and let him live a normal healthy life. Let him have a childhood and not be turned into a weapon."

"If I let Danzo have his way then he would be one already" the Hokage said thinking of his former teammate and how far he had fallen in the past few decades. Turning orphaned children into emotionless was beyond cruel it was monstrous. It made him think who the real monsters were in this village, the villagers or Danzo and his root shinobi.

"Come on, let's get him to the hospital" Itachi said as the Hokage sighed and nodded. However when Itachi and the Hokage went to pick Naruto up a bright light suddenly erupted around Naruto startling both shinobi and causing them to cover their eyes.

"What on earth is going on?" Sarutobi said as he watched as Naruto small beaten body began to lift up into the air. The light then shot upwards towards the sky illuminating most of the village causing many to stare outside and look at what was happening.

"Naruto" Itachi called out as he tried to grab Naruto from the light only for the light to push I'm away not allowing Naruto to be taken from it.

Naruto's body began to lift higher into the air until he shot at great speed upwards into the sky and through what looked like some kind of portal.

Once he was through the light began to die down and the portal disappeared. Almost immediately Jonin and Anbu appeared around the two shouting out question at what happened and what that strange light was.

"Naruto" Itachi whispered sadly knowing in his gut that he would never seen the little blonde ball of energy ever again.

"Naruto where ever you have been taking too I pray to Kami that your life there is better than the one you had here. Minato, Kushina I'm sorry I let you both down" Sarutobi thought before turning around and explain the situation to all those around him.

* * *

**Avatar World**

"What happened?" Naruto though trying to get up but his body refused to move. His eyelids were heavy as he struggled to stay awake. He felt himself laying on something soft.

Barely moving his fingertips, the ground he was on felt like grass and as he moved his head slightly only to see tree's around him.

"Well at least I didn't land in the ocean or in a desert" he thought.

_"**Yes thank kami" **_Kurama said within him.

"Kurama? How can I hear you?" he asked.

_"**A Telepathic link, since you visited your mindscape I can talk to you telepathically with a link I set up."**_

"That's cool. I guess it was a success" he said.

_"**The crossover was a success. Welcome to my home world. I'm not exactly sure where we landed but at least it looks like a safe area."**_

"That's good" Naruto said before Kurama spoke up.

_"**We will talk later. It looks like someone is coming"**_ he said before the link went quiet.

"Hey are you okay?" a voice called out.

The last thing Naruto saw was a girl looking over him with brown hair tied in a small braid with brown doe like eyes staring down at him with a worried look on her face.

"Pretty" he said before he blacked out.

* * *

**Minute earlier**

Currently outside the Fire Nation palace four children currently stood in a small square as a palace wide came of hide and seek was about to begin. There were three girls who all looked around the same age along with a boy who looked a year or two older.

"Come on Azula, you have to start counting" a cheery voice called out. This girl was none other than six year old Ty Lee, youngest daughter of a Fire Nation noble family. She had brown chestnut hair with brown eyes and currently wore a pink long sleeved shirt with small pink braces around her wrists along with a pink sash going across her waist along with some sort of light padded shoulder guard that was dark pink in color.

"Yes yes I know Ty Lee" another girl said who had ravened black hair tied up in a bun. She had amber coloured eyes and wore a red long sleeve top with a light patted shoulder guards similar to Ty Lee along with red bottoms and shoes. She was Azula, daughter and youngest child of Prince Ozai and Lady Ursa of Fire Nation.

"Must we really play this game?" she asked causing Ty Lee to bounce with glee.

"Of course, everyone loves hide and seek, even Mai does" the bouncy girl said pointing over to pale girl with black hair that was in two buns and stopped just above her shoulders. She wore clothes similar to Azula and had an emotionless look on her face.

"I don't care. This is a stupid game" she said making Ty Lee role her eyes and the only boy in the group to speak up.

"Are we going to play this game or not?" the boy said revealing himself to be Prince Zuko, eldest son of Prince Ozai and Lady Ursa as well as older brother to Azula. His hair was the same color a his sisters and was a couple of inches taller then the three girls. He wore similar clothes to Azula only the boys version.

"What's wrong Zuzu, are you getting impatient?" Azula chided causing her older brother to go red in the face slightly.

"I told you to stop calling me that" Zuko said getting frustrated with his sister. Despite being the older sibling Azula always found away to get under Zuko's skin. Plus being their fathers favourite child didn't help since he pretty much encouraged it.

"Now now children enough bickering" a voice said revealing a woman in her thirties with long raven black hair and was wearing red royal Fire Nation clothing. Next to her were two fire nation guards decked out in full armour.

"Mother" Zuko said approaching giving her a quick hug while Azula muttered something about being a momma's boy. "What are you doing here?" he asked

"I thought I get some fresh air and have some tea in the gardens and watch my children and their friends play."

"Will father be coming?" Azula asked making Ursa shake her head.

"No I'm sorry Azula. Your father is in a meeting at the moment and what be out for some time" she said making Azula have a downcast look on her face. "I'm sure he will watch another time" she said planting a small kiss on Azula's head while the young girl did nothing to react to it.

Ursa then greeted both Ty Lee and Mai before a small table was set up in the garden for her and sat and watched the children as they began to play their game.

"Start counting Azula" Ty Lee said making Azula roll her eyes before covering them and begin counting. The children then fanned out across the palace or in Mai's case slowly walk and sit against a bush calling it her version of hiding.

Zuko hid up a tree while Ty Lee left the gardens as went into the forest.

"Where to hide?" she said as she looked around but had to rub her arms when she felt the wind picking up.

"Why is it so cold all of a sudden?"

Before Ty Lee could say another word a light shot down form the sky and out of some kind of black hole. It hit the ground causing a small dust cloud and making the wind pick up, forcing Ty Lee to cover her eyes with her hands.

After about a minute the light began to die before down and everything went back to normal.

Not wasting another second she began to run as fast as her small legs could take her towards the site where the light hit.

When she arrived her eyes widened when she saw a boy with strangest hair colour she had ever seen but was frightened her was the blood that he was covered in.

"Hey are you okay?" she asked as she went over a leaned over him.

"Pretty" the boy said before falling unconscious leaving a blushing Ty Lee standing over him. She looked over him and had to admit he was cute and looked to be around Zuko's age but had the strangest hair colour and she never met someone with whisker marks on their cheeks.

"Ty Lee where are you?" a voice called out and she recognised it as Azula's voice.

"Over here and hurry" she called out. Quickly she heard rapid footsteps approaching and saw Azula, Zuko and Mai making their way over all with slightly worried looking looks on their face thinking their friend may have been hurt.

"What happened and who is this?" Azula asked before the three children's eyes widened when they saw the state the boy was in. None of the children had even seen so much blood on another person before and all felt the stomach drop slightly.

"I don't know. I was trying to find a place to hide and I just found him like this."

"Was he awake when you found him?" Zuko said as all the children now huddled around him.

"He was for a few seconds but quickly passed out again."

"What did he say?" Mai asked only to see Ty Lee begin blush slightly.

"He uh, he said I was pretty" Ty Lee said as he began playing with her braid as the other three tried to fight back a snicker before they got serious and looked over him.

"What weird hair" Azula said voicing the thoughts that everyone was thinking. "And are those whisker marks on his face" she said poking the marks.

"Where do you think he came from? The nearby village perhaps?" Mai voiced.

"Maybe but we would have recognised him. He does kind of standout" Zuko said.

"We can ask later. For now we should take him to get help" Ty Lee said with Zuko and Mai nodding as Zuko went over and piggy backed the blonde boy.

"I don't think that is a good idea. We don't know who he is and is probably just some commoner" Azula said making the other feel slightly angry.

"So what. He is hurt and we are going to help him" Ty Lee said.

"Father will get angry. You know he does not like any commoners other then the servants being in the palace."

"Father might not but I'm sure Mother won't mind" Zuko said. "You know she doesn't like seeing people hurt, especially children. She will help us."

Azula looked at the three before giving in and sighing. "Fine but let's hurry before the idiot bleeds to death" she said before the four children went running back to the palace.

After five minutes of running they group arrived back the palace and saw Lady Ursa still sitting at the table drinking tea. Her eyes finally met theirs and widened when she saw the blonde haired boy on Zuko's back and dashed over.

"My word what happened?" she said as she began to look over his body and frowned at seeing all the cuts and bruises.

"We just found him in the forest like this. Well Ty Lee found him but we helped bring him back" Zuko said with the three girls nodding.

"Well let's get him some help" she said before calling over the guards. The guard came over and took the boy from Zuko.

"Take him to one of the guest rooms and have a healer sent to him immediately" she said as the guard disappeared with the blonde boy.

"Tell me what happened" Ursa said as she began listening to how they found him. Ty Lee thought it was best to not mention the light coming down from the sky since it could cause the blonde boy some trouble later on and Ursa had to fight back a chuckle when she heard that he called Ty Lee pretty which made the brunette girl blush again.

After ten minutes of explaining the group went to see how he was doing and when they arrived to the room saw him lying comfortably on the bed still unconscious as a healer was looking over his body.

His shirt was off leaving his torso bare and the healer couldn't help but frown when she saw how thin he was. It looked as if he had not had decent meal ever.

"How is he?" Ursa asked as she and the children looked over his sleeping form.

"Well he has multiple lacerations up and down his arms and legs. His torso and back are covered in bruises and he had multiple fractures, most notably his ribs. Whatever happened to him it certainly was not pretty. It looked as if he was caught in some kind of stampede" she said making everyone frown and the girls even Azula and Mai look at him sadly.

"I gave him a light sedative so he will most likely be sleeping for most of the day and won't wake until tomorrow. I can have someone watch over him for the night just in case he wakes up. If anything changes then send someone to get me" the healer said making Ursa nod as she made her way out.

When she left Ursa's hand grazed over the boys head putting bits of hair that was falling over his eyes to the side. "What a rough experience this boy has had" she said sadly.

"What will we do when he wakes up?" Ty Lee asked.

"Well first we ask who he is and what happened to him."

"What if he does not have a home to go back to?" Zuko said causing Ursa to bite her lip.

"We will cross that bridge when we get to it" she said making the others nod before the door behind them opened.

"So this is where you all are" a strong voice said making everyone turn around to see Zuko and Azula's father standing there with a slight frown on his face.

Ozai was a fairly tall man standing at six foot three with a strong muscular build and was wearing the traditional royal Fire Nation Robes. He has dark brown hair that was bordering at being black that went past his shoulders and stopping just higher then the middle of his back.

"Father" the children greeted while Mai and Ty Lee bowed and Ursa greeted her husband with a light kiss on the lips.

"Who is this?" he said motioning over to Naruto with a slight frown on his face.

"We're not sure father" Azula said speaking up for everyone. "Ty Lee found him in the forest outside the palace and he was badly hurt. We brought him back here where mother had the guard bring him to this room and have a healer look over him. He has not woken yet so we don't know who he is."

"Why did you bring a commoner into the palace and why does he look so odd?" Ozai said. He too was slightly baffled by the boy's hair and cheek marks.

"He was hurt dear and could not just leave him. His appearance though we are not too sure off" Ursa said making Ozai look over Naruto critically.

"Did it ever occur to you he could be some kind of spy from the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribes?" Ozai said with Azula looking at Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee with an 'I told you so' face.

"If they wanted to spy on us then why send a boy and a boy that had been badly injured" Ursa said.

"It won't so any harm for him to be here for the night. When he wakes we can find somewhere for him to stay if he has nowhere to go. Is this acceptable?" she asked to Ozai who was still looking over Naruto.

"Very well but the moment he wakes he is to leave. Also I will have guards stationed at the door just to be sure he is no spy" Ozai said before turning around and leaving.

"Thank you" Ursa said before she too turned to leave. "Come on children let's leave him to rest. We will come back and check on him tomorrow.

"Will he be okay?" Ty Lee asked as she looked down at Naruto as Ursa placed a comforting hand on he shoulder.

"He will be fine. If anything happens the healer will help should anything happen" she said as a healer entered the room and took a seat on a couch a little way form the bed.

"Okay mother/ Lady Ursa" the children spoke as they left the room only for Ty Lee and surprising Azula to take another quick glance at the blonde before they left.

"Get well soon" everyone thought before they all left.

* * *

**Chapter One Completed**

**Now if you have not guessed it already the pairing will defiantly be Naruto/Ty Lee however im currently debating whether to add Azula to the mix. This story will be more of a good Azula although their will of course she will act like the Azula we know from the show alot of the time. Let me know if you would like the story to be strictly Naruto/Ty Lee or it to be a Naruto/Ty Lee/ Azula pairing.**

**Also everyone in this will be two years older then the canon. So by the start of the main canon story Zuko and Naruto will be 18. Sokka and Suki will be 17. Azula, Mai, Ty Lee and Katara will be 16 while Aang and Toph will be 14.**

**Thank you for reading and please Review :)**


	2. Meeting The Royals

**Thank you for all the positive message everyone. Im happy you all liked the first chapter.**

**So far it seems Naruto will be pairing with both Ty Lee and Azula since most have voiced that its the pairing they wanted. Just to tell you all now even though Naruto become friends with Ty Lee almost immediately, it will take a little while for Azula to warm up to him.**

* * *

Chapter 2

Naruto groggily opened his eyes as light began to shine through the curtains of the room causing him to wince. He felt himself lying on something amazingly soft. Whatever it was it was the softest thing he had ever laid on.

Slowly he opened his eyes to find himself in a fairly large room where the walls were painted a dark reddish colour and noticed many very fancy items around the room. He immediately noticed almost everything was either in red, black or gold. Naruto had to admit it was the fanciest place he had ever seen.

"Kurama are you there?" Naruto asked

"_**Yeah I'm here. I must say nice place you got here"**_ Kurama" said chuckling.

"It might be a nice place but I know for sure it's not mine. Do you know where we are?"

"_**I don't. When I cut the connection I'm may have fallen asleep" **_the fox said causing Naruto to sweat drop slightly.

"Fair enough. Crossing worlds must have taken it out of you" he said making the fox nod despite Naruto not seeing it, he knew what he was doing.

When he began to sit up he felt a hand suddenly appear on his chest that pushed him gently back down. When he looked up he saw a woman who looked to be somewhere in her early thirties with brown hair that went down to her mid back. She wore a long gray dress with a light pink apron and had a kind smile on her face.

"Easy there little one, you are not quite all healed yet" she said as Naruto nodded slightly. She slowly began to take off the bandages where she saw most of the lacerations on his arms and legs had almost completely healed.

"I have to admit I have never seen someone heal so fast from such wounds. Most would take weeks to heal but you healed over night."

"I get that a lot" Naruto said. "I'm just a fast healer I guess."

He didn't want to say anything about Kurama in fear of what people would say or do.

"I guess so. May I know your name little one? You have caused quite the stir in the palace you know."

"Sure, my name is Naruto Uzumaki and what do you mean palace? Where exactly are we?" he asked getting an odd look from the woman.

"Well little fishcake" she said getting an annoyed look from Naruto that made him look adorable. "You are in palace of the Fire Lord."

"_**Woh hoh what a score kid, you are in the Fire Nation and not only that you are in the palace. Looks like I did some good work"**_ Kurama said praising himself.

Naruto ignored him and focused on the woman.

"Oh okay. I'm sorry but I don't really know this place very well."

"Do you not originate from Fire Nation?" she said rather tensely.

"No no I do" he said not completely lying since Konoha was in the land of fire. "I just don't remember where I'm from in Fire Nation."

"Won't your parent be worried?" she asked but regretted it when she saw his downcast look.

"I-I don't have any parents. They died when I was a baby" he said making the woman gasp slightly.

"Oh I'm sorry I did not mean to bring up any bad memories" she said as she gently rubbed his back before she lightly tapped her head. "Where are my manners I have not told you my name yet. My name is Lana.

"It's nice to meet you" he said extending his hand surprising her slightly before she smiled and shook his hand.

"You will have to excuse me for a second but there are some people that have been rather curious about how you are and I should let them know you are awake."

"Who's that?" he asked with a curious look on his face.

"The prince and princess of Fire Nation as well as their friends and mother" she said shocking him. "They were the ones that found you."

"I'll be back momentarily" she said before she then exited the room leaving Naruto to himself.

"Kurama can you believe this?" he asked to the fox.

"_**I know what you mean. That woman is a babe"**_ he said causing Naruto to get a small tick mark form on his head.

"That's not what I meant pervy fox. Of all the places I end up in a palace and a royal family are the ones that find me. What do I do?"

"_**Take it easy kid. Fire Nation isn't too bad. They can be a little arrogant at times and a little snobbish but other than that they are okay. You just need to stay calm and tell them you are from Fire Nation but you hit your head when you were little and you forgot certain aspects of your life. You remember your parents and name but not the town you lived in. You were in a nearby town but were attacked by an Armadillo Bear before you ended up collapsed in the forest.**_

"Wow" Naruto said. "That's a pretty good excuse" Naruto said appraisingly."

"_**Kid this is not my first rodeo"**_ Kurama said grinning proudly.

"Rodeo?"

"_**Never mind"**_ Kurama said sighing out.

"So what was Fire Nation like in general back when you were here?" Naruto asked wanting to know as much about his new home as he could.

"_**Well first of Fire Nation is the second largest continent with Earth Kingdom being first, then the Air Temples and finally the Water Tribes. Fire Nation is ruled by a governing monarchy with the Fire Lord being the daimyo"**_ he said so Naruto could understand that Fire Lord and Daimyo was in a sense the same thing. _**The country is the largest industrial nation along with having the strongest military, although Earth Kingdom could give them a good run for their money. Also they can use fire bending.**_

"Fire bending?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"_**Ahh that's right I have not told you about bending powers**_ Kurama said before he began to explain_**. "In every nation there are certain people that have the ability to bend the elements at will. However they can only bend one element. Only one can bend all four but I will explain that later. In Fire Nation people can fire bend, in Earth Kingdom they can Earth Bend, the Water Tribe can water bend and the Air Nomads can Air Bend. Air bending is basically bending wind but they call it Air bending here"**_ he said making Naruto nod.

"What about Lightning?" he asked.

"_**Here Lightning is only seen as an extension of fire. There is no lightning bending but those that are strong enough in fire bending can learn to channel lightning through their body."**_

"Okay I think I get it. Will I be able to bend an element?" he asked. He hoped so since it would be cool if he could shoot fireballs from his fists or make a small earthquake happen.

"_**We will discuss it another time"**_ Kurama said. _**"For now it seem you are about to have company"**_ Kurama said before he cut the connection.

When he did the door opened and Ty Lee came cart wheeling in stopping right in front of him while Mai, Zuko, Azula, Ursa and Lana causally walked in. All had smiles on their faces thought Mai looked emotionless as usual and Azula's he could not tell if it was a smile or smirk. However Ty Lee had the biggest smile he had ever seen some wear and was staring at him with her big doe like eyes.

"It's good to see you awake" Ursa said. "You gave everyone a bit of scare when my children and their friends found you yesterday. I'm Ursa, Lady and princess of the Fire Nation.

"I'm Zuko, Prince of Fire Nation" Zuko said giving a small wave while Naruto return one.

"I'm Azula, Princess of Fire Nation" she said giving a small nod.

"Mai" Mai said making everyone in the room sweat drop.

"And I'm Ty Lee" Ty Lee said taking Naruto's hand and shaking it furiously.

"It's an honour to meet you all" he said. "I would bow but I'm a little indisposed at the moment" he said making everyone but Mai and Azula chuckle. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. It's nice to meet you all."

"What an odd name" Ursa with finger to her lip. "Why would a parent call their child fishcake?" causing Naruto to face palm while the other cracked up slightly. Even Mai had a small smile on her face.

"It doesn't mean fishcake. It means maelstrom" Naruto sighed out causing Ursa to give a small apology. "It's oaky, you're not the first person to say that and I doubt you're going to be the last."

"Well now that we have gotten the introductions out of the way why don't you tell us what happened? You were in a very bad condition when Ty Lee found you and won't your parents be worried" Ursa asked as she took a seat on a nearby couch as Mai, Azula and Zuko sat with her while Ty Lee took a seat on the bed. Immediately they all sat the downcast look on Naruto and Lana's face.

"I'm an orphan" he said making Ursa and the children's eyes widened. They died the day I was born so I never met them."

"Oh my dear I'm sorry. I did not mean to bring up any old wounds" Ursa said apologising again but Naruto shook it off.

"It's okay. You did not know so there's no harm done. I have been on my own pretty much my entire life so I know how to take care of myself. I miss them but I like to think their watching over me" he said getting a small smile from Ursa and Ty Lee.

"Don't you have any family?" Zuko asked as Naruto shook his head.

"None, both my parents were only children and both their parents passed away before I was born. There were a few that I kind of saw as family but their all gone now.

"I lived on my own for pretty much my entire life but from what I'm told I hit my head when I was little and have no memory of where I lived. I was lucky enough to be able to remember my parents and own name but even that took some time. So since then I have just sort of travelled and been by myself. I was in the forest getting food before I was attack by an Armadillo Bear" he said causing small gasps to be heard from people.

"I managed to get away but as you can see I didn't exactly get away unscathed. I collapsed on the forest ground for however know how long before I think Ty Lee found me" he said getting a nod from the girl.

"_**Good cover kid. You're very convincing**_" Kurama applauded from his mind.

"Well you gave me the idea" he said inwardly smiling before he continued.

"After that I woke up here" he said as he looked at the people around him. He saw small looks of sadness on Mai and Azula's face to his surprise since what he had seen so far of the two was that the two were very emotionally guarded. Zuko looked down at the ground while Ursa and Lana gave a small sniffle. Both felt a little emotional at hearing the unfortunate events Naruto had to live during his short life and being on his own pretty much from the start.

Before Naruto could talk he felt a warm pressure hit him and what felt like arms wrap around him. He looked over to see Ty Lee embrace him a soft yet firm hug as she let some tears stroll down her face.

She had noticed that Naruto did not say anything about the weird light from the sky and that he was found right where it had hit but she thought since she never said anything about it either then it shouldn't matter.

That did not mean she would not ask him about it at a later date though.

"Oh urm thank you" Naruto said as he hugged back before the two parted. "That was my first hug."

"Well you can be prepared to get lots more" she said with as smile that just seemed so infectious that Naruto couldn't help but smile back.

"_**Oh ho someone has got a crush"**_ Kurama teased.

"Shut up pervy fox" Naruto said causing Kurama to growl slightly at the nickname. Naruto was then taken out of his thoughts when he felt Ty Lee's hand move to his hair and begin to twirl his hair around in her fingers.

"Urm what are you doing?" He asked curiously.

"Your hair is so odd. I have never met anyone with your hair colour before" she said.

"It is a rather strange colour" Azula piped up getting a small frown from Zuko and Ursa but it went unnoticed by the others except for Naruto.

"Is there really no one else with blonde hair?" he asked surprisingly to which they all shook their heads.

"If there is none of us has ever met them. Most in fire nation have either black or brown hair. Even in the other kingdoms I still don't think blonde hair is found" Ursa said from her seat.

"It's so soft and smooth" Ty Lee said still playing with his hair and motioned over for the others to feel. As soon as she did all the girls came over to feel it too.

Naruto couldn't help but blush at having Ty Lee, Mai, Azula and Ursa twiddle and play with his hair causing Zuko and Lana to look in amusement at Naruto's blushing face.

"What about these whisker marks. How did you get them" Azula asked as she poked his cheek causing Naruto to laugh slightly from how ticklish it felt.

All the girls noticed and inwardly smirked. They would have to use that development at a later date.

"Their birth marks. I have had them for as long as I can remember" Naruto said as the others nodded.

"Strange "they all thought but let the thought disappear. After another minute of touching his hair they all stopped and Ursa spoke up.

"Well Naruto are you hungry?" Ursa asked finally stopping playing with the blonde boy's hair. "I'm sure you must be starving and since it is still morning and we were all going to have breakfast we were hoping you would like to join us."

"Is that okay? I mean you are royalty and I'm... well not" Naruto said rather shyly but Ursa gave him a small smile.

"You are our guest here and I would not have asked otherwise silly" she said with the other nodding. Both Ty Lee and Zuko looked happy since Ty Lee wanted to know more about the blonde enigma while Zuko finally wanted to have a friend who was his own age and not one of the girls.

Mai and Azula looked indifferent but inside both were a little curious about the blonde too and just went with the crowd for now.

"He can wear these" Lana said as she picked up a small bag. "These clothes use to belong to my son but since he is not with us anymore Naruto can wear them. They should fit him just nicely since they are at about the same age."

"Thank you" Ursa said as she motioned for the children to leave. "Come everyone. Let's let Naruto get changed in piece. We will wait outside for him and then walk to breakfast together."

When the door shut Lana walked over and slowly helped Naruto get out of bed who body was still feeling stiff despite being mostly healed. She then began to help him take his clothes off and put on the new ones she had brought for him.

"You don't have to help. I think I can manage on my own" Naruto said but the Lana shook her head and kept helping him anyway.

"No no you're hurt so you need the help. Beside like Lady Ursa said you are their guest and it's only natural for servants to have to do this kind of thing."

"Oh okay, thank you" he said getting a nod from the woman. "But won't your son miss these?" He said but noticed the sad smile on her face.

"My son passed away a few years ago from illness as well as my husband. He was a soldier but died fighting Earth bending rebels. These clothes of my sons were just lying around so I thought I would put them to good use."

"Oh I'm sorry for your loss" he said.

"Thank you. It was a few years ago now but the pain never really goes away" she said.

"I think I get what you mean" he said thinking about his parents. "What did you mean earth bending rebels he asked?"

Lana looked down at him in surprise. "Well the earth kingdom is trying to stop Fire Nation from invading and taking over Earth Kingdom" she said shocking both Naruto and Kurama.

"Invading?" both Naruto and Kurama thought. Lana looked at his confusion and her eyes widened.

"You do know that there is a war going on right now right?" she further shocking the two so Naruto just shook his head.

"How do you not know? The war has lasted one hundred years ever since the avatar disappeared."

"_**THE AVATAR DISSAPEARED?**_ Kurama shouted from within causing Naruto to wince at how loud he was.

"Who is the Avatar?" he asked Kurama.

"_**I'll explain later"**_ the fox said before Lana spoke up.

"Well I guess since you said you hit your head when you were younger things would be fuzzy but I never imagined you would not know about the war."

"H-How did it start?" Naruto asked trying to get information for both him and Kurama since the giant fox spirit wanted to know what had happened in the last one hundred years.

"Oh well you see one hundred years ago the Fire Lord of that time known as Fire Lord Sozin had a dream of one day uniting the world under one banner and empire. That empire of course being the Fire Nation. The first main attack was against the Air Nomad Temples who despite fighting valiantly against Fire Nation were later exterminated" she said completely shocking the two.

"From what people say Sozin feared the Avatar being reborn and with next Avatar cycle being air, he had them targeted first. Once the Air Temples fell, the Fire Nation has been trying to taken down Earth Kingdom but since then has had no luck. Currently General Iroh, Prince Ozia's older brother and eldest son to Fire Lord Azulon is in Earth Kingdom trying to conquer Ba Sing Se as we speak along with his son Lu Ten."

"There have also been attacks on the Water Tribes and despite managing to take the Southern Water Tribe, the Northern is far stronger and so far Fire Nation has had no such luck. But it is only a matter of time. Azulon will want to take the North down just like he did with the South" Lana said sadly.

"Do you not agree with the war?" Naruto asked to Lana shook her head.

"Many don't. Even some of the soldiers don't. Many lose family and friends in war and never see them again. The only reason we fight is because the Fire Lord commands us too. Most just want peace and to be able to go home" she said before she finished clothing Naruto. "There all done" she said.

"Very handsome" she said ruffling Naruto's hair. He was wearing a red long sleeve shirt with black and red pants along with black shoes.

"It's certainly different" he said as he looked at himself in a mirror. "Way different. There's no orange what so ever."

"Come let's not keep your new friends waiting" Tanya said giving him a wink as they headed towards the door.

"Hey Kurama you okay?" he asked. The fox had been very quiet since he had heard about the Air Temples falling and Naruto was a little worried about his new friend.

"_**I'm fine. I just need time to process everything I have heard"**_ he said before he broke the connection and it all went quiet.

When the two left they were greated by Zuko sand Ty Lee who had decided to wait for Naruto. Azula and Mai didn't really want to wait and got a little impatient so Ursa took them on ahead.

At first they were in silence as neither really knew what to say. All that was heard was the footsteps that echoed through the large hallways. Finally Naruto spoke up.

"So what's it like living in this massive palace prince Zuko? I bet it's awesome."

"It can be pretty cool but it's so large that sometimes I get a little lost" Zuko said scratching the back of his head. "Oh you can just call me Zuko. You don't need to say prince every time. It's get a little old after a while."

"Okay Zuko" Naruto said making Zuko smile. "You know you could play the best game of hide and seek around here" he said now making Ty Lee speak up.

"You like Hide and seek?" she asked getting a nod from Naruto. "Maybe we can play it together later?" she asked with her cheeks slightly pink.

"Sure that would be great."

"You know Ty Lee found you yesterday because we were playing hide and seek" Zuko pitched in.

"Really? Well then I have another reason to love the game then. If you weren't playing it then who knows what might have happened. I'm grateful to the game of hide and seek" he said fist pumping the air making the trio chuckle.

* * *

**The Dining Hall**

In the huge dining hall Ursa, Azula and Mai patiently waited for the arrival of the others as they began loading whatever they wanted onto their plates.

Ozai was not with them once again due to having an important war meeting and said he would eat later. The silence in the room was interrupted when they heard laughter coming towards them. The giant doors of the room opened to reveal the four as they entered the room. While Ursa was sat next to her daughter and Mai on one side Naruto, Ty Lee and Zuko sat on the other side with Naruto sat in the middle.

"You're looking a lot better" Ursa said glancing over at Naruto. "Plus those clothes seem to suit you" she said while Naruto nodded his thanks making Ursa smile slightly.

"Well dig in Naruto. There is plenty to go around" Zuko said as Naruto looked at all the food on the table. There was easily enough for at least ten people and he had to try very hard not to drool over how delicious it all looked.

So for the next half an hour the group ate and spoke, most wanting to get to know Naruto to a little better. Naruto also asked the others about themselves too.

He learned Ty Lee was the youngest daughter of a noble family while Mai was an only child. Naruto could help but giggle when he saw the two interact. They were the complete polar opposites of each other and yet they were the best of friends.

He tried to talk to Azula but he found her a little difficult to talk to. He wanted to get to know her as did Azula who actually wanted to get to know him since her range of friends were very limited and wouldn't have liked to have a new friend. The two just had not found any common ground yet.

After only talking for half an hour, Naruto and Zuko hit it off with each other immediately. The two boys were happy to finally have a friend the same age and gender or in Naruto's case to have a friend at all. Naruto asked Zuko more about the palace and the town surrounding it.

When they asked if Naruto had any hobbies he had told them about his tendency to prank people. When they asked him about the kind of pranks that he pulled he began telling them stories about different villagers he had pranked which went from putting wasp nests in their bathrooms to switching their shampoo with pink dye.

This got laughs from every even Mai and Azula. Thought Azula was light giggling and Mai was biting her lip to stop from laughing, he considered it a small victory for himself for getting them to laugh.

Naruto had to admit this world was a lot different from his world but he was happy that it was. It meant it gave him a good chance of starting over.

The group were about to discuss what to play after they finished breakfast before the door to the large dining room shot open.

A loud echo sounded out through the room as everyone looked up to see Ozai walking towards the table and heading for the head of the table. He glanced at those at the table but once his eyes landed on Naruto he frowned.

"I see you are awake boy. Tell me what your name is?" Ozai asked as he sat down.

"It's Naruto Uzumaki Lord Ozai" Naruto said as politely as he could since this man looked as if he was as royal as they could get.

"What kind of name is fishcake?" he asked causing Naruto to face palm and making the other giggle.

"That's the third time someone has got it wrong" Naruto thought before he spoke. "It was actually maelstrom but I get that a lot" he said.

"I see. Where are your parents? I'm sure they are worried about you" Ozai said.

"I don't have any sir. They died when I was a baby. It's just me" he said noticing the others look a little saddened but Ozai remain the same.

"Pity. Did you sleep well?" he asked to which Naruto nodded. "Good. In that case you can now leave" Ozai said in a slightly threatening tone that made the others eyes widen.

"Now Ozai surely you can-"

"No. This is a royal palace. Not a place for commoners and filth" he said not even glancing up at his wife or anyone else in the room. "We agreed he would stay the night and then leave the moment he awoke. I can see he is awake yet I am puzzled to why he is still here."

"Father can't you let it go this once. It's only breakfast" Zuko said until the boy leaned back when he saw Ozai glaring at him.

"Did I ask for your opinion boy" Ozai said making everyone gulp.

"N-No sir" Zuko stuttered out. Naruto noticed Azula have a bit of a smug expression on her face.

"Looks like someone is a daddy's girl" he thought.

"Then you will speak when spoken too" Ozai said reprimanding Zuko before his gaze went back to Naruto.

"Well why aren't you leaving?" Ozai asked looking at Naruto with a glare like the one he looked at Zuko with.

"Dear please just let-"

"Very well" Naruto said interrupting Ursa and surprising everyone as he pushed his chair back and stood up. "Thank you taking care of me during my time of need. It's an act of kindness I could never repay. "Thank you for allowing me into your home Prince Ozai" he said while the man said nothing and seemed to simply ignore Naruto and act and if he was not there.

Naruto then turned to Ursa and the children and bowed a second time. "It was nice to meet you all and to have the privilege of spending time with you" he said before he turned around and walked out of the room.

"Naruto" Ty Lee whispered as she, Zuko and Ursa looked saddened that he left. Azula and Mai looked indifferent but did feel a twinge of sadness when he left.

Lana who was standing to the side of the dining hall in case she was needed watched Naruto go and too felt sadness. She enjoyed helping him out this morning that it reminded her of her time with her son before he passed.

Quickly an idea came to her head before a small smile appeared on her face. She would have to try and catch up with Naruto as soon as she could and hoped he didn't stray too far.

Ursa who finally looked up from the table saw the look Lana had on her face and she too smiled. She had an idea of what the servant lady was thinking and was hoping he would accept. She could see Zuko and Ty Lee had become fond of the boy while Mai and Azula would need some more time since they were both very emotionally guarded for just children.

The lively room then fell into silence as each continued to eat their breakfast.

* * *

**With Naruto**

Naruto walked at a brisk pace as he left the palace grounds and headed into the capital city since the palace was located in the centre.

When he left the dining hall he had passed an elderly man in royal clothing with a dozen guards surrounding him. The man was easily in his eighties, possibly his nineties and looked as if he would drop at any moment. He was pale and had long grey hair that was receding along with a grey thin moustache then went past his chin.

Naruto had to guess that the old man was Fire Lord Azulon, Ozia's father and Zuko and Azula's grandfather. He could already see the physical resemblance between him and Ozai. Ozai was practically a younger copy of him.

Naruto held his breath when he passed the Fire Lord, knowing if he did a single thing that look offensive or that he was going to attack the Fire Lord he was pretty much done for.

However when they passed each other the elderly man didn't even glance at him. Naruto now could also see where Ozai got his attitude from.

As he began to breathe normally Naruto began to walk at a steady pace as he eventually left the palace all together and looked around the capital.

As he walked around the capital he found himself admiring the weirdly shaped structures of the buildings as well as noticing the fire nation emblem on almost every single house whether it was carved into the rock or was a banner hanging down over the doors.

As he walked however he could overhear the citizens whispering quietly. Dreading what they were talking about, he kneeled down to make it look like he was tying his shoelaces which he was still getting use to since he was so use to wearing sandals, so that he could hear what they were saying.

"What strange hair"

"I have never seen him around here before"

"He completely adorable"

"What weird marks on his cheeks."

Naruto sighed in relief. They were a lot different form the normal demon and monster whispers that he got back in the leaf and he kind of like the positive attention he was getting.

Smiling to himself knowing that none of them knew did about his burden or that he was carrying quiet possibly the most powerful spirit in the world in his gut. Chuckling to himself he stood up and resumed walking.

Despite being at war, he couldn't help but notice how peaceful the place was. Yes there might have been the odd soldier or guard at every corner but then again in war you can't really take any chances.

Eventually he walked passed a large story house that when he looked through the window noticed children sitting at tables whilst an elderly man was righting on a chalk board.

"This must be a school" he murmured to himself.

The children all seemed to range from all kinds of different ages which at first confused Naruto but it quickly passed. He noticed that almost of them had either black or brown hair just like Lady Ursa had said.

"Man I really do stick out like a sore thumb" he whispered before he leaned away from the window and carried on walking.

The capital was very different form Konoha. The buildings were structures differently, the guard wore armour instead of those the green flak jackets plus he had to admit the place was slightly more advanced. He could even say the capital was bigger than the leaf village.

The building that caught his eye was a large building with pillars at the front with a large open door. The building was wooden and was easily about three floors high. Naruto saw people coming and going from the building meaning it must have been a public building for everyone to use. When he saw that some were holding book he figured it was the library.

This could be of use he murmured to himself as he walked towards the library and went inside.

When he entered his eye went slightly bug eyed when he saw how huge it was on the inside as well as never seeing so many book before in his life.

He might now have been much of a reader back in Konoha but he did enjoy from time to time despite popular belief. It was in fact Ayame who had taught him to read. After their ramen stall would close for the night, Ayame would spend an hour with Naruto almost every night helping him learn to both read and write. Even old man Hokage would help him from time to time.

"Can I help you?" young man a voice said called and Naruto looked over and saw an elderly woman looking at him with a smile on her wrinkled face.

Naruto decided to use this to his advantage.

"Hi I was wondering if you could help my find an atlas" he asked seeing an intrigued look appear on her face.

"An Atlas huh?" she said before nodding. "Follow me" she said as she led him away and through many different isles of hallways.

After about a minute they stopped at a certain section of books. She scanned them all with her eyes before her hand reached from a large book, almost twice the size of any regular book.

"Here you go young man. This should be what you are looking for. There are some table just over there" she said pointing towards a set of tables that already had a few people sitting on them. "If you need any more help just let me know" she said before walking off.

Naruto gave her his thanks before he sat down at one of tables and put the big book in front of him. He opened it and immediately landed on a wide scale map of the world.

"Woh" he said as he looked at the brand new world with eagerness clearly evident in his eyes. "The world is huge" he thought before he began to study each land mass.

The first one that he clearly noticed was the giant Earth Kingdom which was highlighted in yellow. The land mass was easily around four times the size than Fire Nation which was highlighted in red. The capital of Earth Kingdom was a giant city called Ba Sing Se.

That struck a chord with Naruto since Lana had told him that was wear Zuko and Azula's Uncle Iroh was currently trying to take over.

As he studied earth Kingdom he saw the smaller island around it, most notably Kyoshi Island. When he read that Kyoshi Island was famous for its female warriors known as the Kyoshi warriors, Naruto had to keep his excitement down. He would like to visit that place in the future.

He then moved on to the Water Tribes both north and south and was highlighted in blue. They were both around the same size but were both smaller then Fire Nation and excruciatingly smaller then Earth Kingdom.

Finally he got to the smallest nation which was the air temples which were highlighted in grey. However the air temples were split up into three land mountainous land masses. One was to the north, another was to the east and then the third was to the west.

If what Lana had told him was correct about all Air Nomads being extinct then these lands were now desolate and lonely places with no life on them at all.

"_**I see your looking at a map of the four nation. Good call"**_ Kurama said as the link between the two connected making Naruto jolt slightly in surprise.

"Hey your back. Are you okay? I'm sure hearing all that was tough" Naruto asked slightly concerned for his new friend about the events they heard about the war.

"_**I'm fine. It was just a lot to take in. I was not expecting my home world to be at war. It makes me wonder what caused all this and what happened to the Avatar."**_

There it was again. Naruto's curiosity was now getting the better of him about this Avatar person.

"Kurama what is this Avatar you keep talking about?" Naruto asked making the fox's eyes open from within the seal.

"_**The Avatar is the spirit of the planet incarnated in human form and thus, the only physical being with the ability to learn all four bending disciplines. It is considered the Avatar's duty to master the four elemental disciplines and use such power to keep balance amongst the four nations of the world. With the death of the Avatar, the spirit is reborn into the following nation, dictated by the cyclic order; water, earth, fire, air. Coincidentally, the cycle of reincarnation corresponds to the cycle of the seasons; each of which is affiliated with a particular nation and element; water and winter, earth and spring, fire and summer, air and autumn."**_

"_**The Avatar possesses an innate connection to the Spirit World and uses it as a bridge by which to reconcile the two worlds and ensure harmony. The Avatar is also capable of using this ability to contact the spirits of previous Avatars and harness their combined energy to perform feats of bending beyond that of any other bender. Throughout the ages, countless incarnations of the Avatar have served to maintain harmony in the world."**_

"Wow this avatar person sounds like they could be as strong as a kage. Maybe even stronger" Naruto said before a thought came to mind. "Is that why the world is at war with the Fire Nation? Because there is no Avatar to keep the peace?"

"_**It's very likely. The last Avatar I was aware of was Avatar Roku who hailed from the Fire Nation. That was over a century ago before I left for your world. When he died, then the next Avatar would have been born as an Air Nomad. However"-**_

"However since Lana said that all the Air Nomads were exterminated, then there would be no Avatar" Naruto said sadly while Kurama nodded.

"_**With no Air Nomads left in the world, the cycle of the Avatar has been broken."**_

Naruto looked at the map of the world and put his hand on the page as it slid across the paper. "It's so sad that such an amazing and beautiful world has so much hatred in it" he said before he put the book away.

For the next couple of hours Naruto sat in the library learning about the history of Fire Nation as well what they had on the other nations. He spoke with Kurama from time to time but knew that giant fox spirit was still adjusting to how much his home world had changed.

Eventually he put the books away and thanked the elderly woman for her help. When he got outside he was surprised to see the sky have an orange and pink tint to it.

"Wow is really the evening already. I must have really lost track of time in there" Naruto said before his stomach gave an earth shattering gurgle which made those passing by loo at him strangely.

"Ehh heh there's nothing to see here folks, just keep on moving" he said ushering ever along which made everyone look at him a little strangely before they walked off.

"I wonder if they have ramen in this world" he thought before he began to walk around to see if there was a ramen stand nearby.

After about 30 minutes he had no luck and was now willing to have anything to eat. However he had no money and he certainly did not want to steal. He did not want another bad reputation.

"Naruto" a voice called out making him turn around and was surprised to see Lana walking towards him. "I have been looking for you everywhere. For someone who stands out you are certainly hard to find."

"Sorry about that" he said chuckling while scratching the back of his head. "But how come you were looking for me? Not that I mind or anything."

"Well you see I and Lady Ursa had a little chat after you left. Neither of us wants to see you on your own anymore and you seem to have made a bit of an impact on her. We thought that since you don't have anywhere to go you would like to stay with me" she said surprising him.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean we have only known each other the one day" he said but Lana kneeled down to his level and put a hand on his cheek.

"So? You have already shown yourself to be very polite, friendly and you managed to make Azula and Mai chuckle. Do you know how long it has been since I have seen those to laugh? I'll tell you. Never" she said causing them both the giggle.

"Plus I live on my own so it would be nice to have the company. That way you will have somewhere to stay and I along with Lady Ursa will know that you're safe and sound."

Naruto bit his lip. He did need somewhere to stay but was she really okay with him staying with her. He did not want to be a burden to her.

"Now come and let's go home. My shift in the palace is over and I would like to head on home" she said extending her hand out waiting for Naruto to take it.

He hesitated at first before he accepted and took Lana's hand. "Thank you" he said getting a little teary eyed while Lana gave him a motherly smile.

"You're welcome" she said leaning down and giving him a small kiss on the forehead.

The two then began to walk off down the road both with smiles on their faces. Naruto looked at up at Lana and couldn't help but have this warm feeling run through his body.

"This feeling. Is this what having a mom feels like" he thought as Kurama had a small smile on his face.

"_**About time someone showed him some love"**_ he thought before he went back to sleep.

They walked down the cobbled path for about twenty minutes before they arrived at a nice looking two bedroom house. It was a pretty nice house made of wood with little plant pots laid out on the window sill and with light red shutter on the window.

When they walked in they removed their shoes and Naruto got a good look of the place. It was narrow hallway that had the stairs at the end. On his right was the kitchen which was pretty big and looked as if Lana cleaned on a daily basis. On the left of the hallway was the living room.

Let me show you the upstairs she said as she led Naruto upstairs. This is my room she said pointing the room at the end of the hallway. Hats the bath room she said tapping the down to the bathroom which was at the end of the upstairs hallway.

"And this is your room" she opening the door and walked inside with Naruto behind her. The room itself was pretty nice with a single bed in the corner with a wardrobe and cabinet on the opposite side whilst in front of the bed was a small desk. The walls were a light shade of red whilst the ceiling was white.

"These people really like red" he thought before remembering he was in Fire Nation.

"It's not much since I cleared the room out and took most of the possessions out since this use to belong to my son but now it's all yours" she said giving Naruto a smile.

"It's perfect" he said making her smile further.

"That's good. I'm glad you like it" she said as she began to walk out. "I'm going to go start dinner. I'll let you know when it is ready" she said before she disappeared down the hall and down the stairs to the kitchen. Naruto looked around the room before he planted down on the bed. It was pretty comfy and found he could fall asleep very easily.

"I think I am going to like it here" he thought to himself whilst Kurama nodded in the seal.

"I have a feeling Naruto is going to make quite the impact to this world and its people" Kurama thought before going back to sleep.

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**Chapter 2 Completed**

**Thanks for reading and please REVIEW**


	3. Will And Drive To Protect

**Hey I can't believe how well liked this story is so far. Thank to every one who has reviewed and Favorited the story.**

**Now im at a bit of a cross roads on what the pairing should be. Some want Naruto/Ty Lee while other want Naruto/Ty Lee/Azula. Originally i was going to let a poll decide but now after some thinking i have decided this story will strictly be Naruto/ Ty Lee**

**Also for those that don't understand why Azula won;t be paired, the simple answer is i now realise how unrealistic it would be that Ty Lee and Azula wold share Naruto. In this story she won't go all crazy like she did in the series. Since Naruto is here this story he brings out the good in her and slowly people will begin to see a nicer and kinder Azula. She will be similar to Sasuke in a sense that Naruto is trying to bring her out of the darkness and back into the light**

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Chapter 3

"Naruto come and put your books away" Lana shouted from down stairs waking the blonde haired boy up.

"Coming Lana" Naruto said as he came down from his room dressed in a black and gray sleeve shirt with red pants and black shoes. He walked in and gave Lana a smile who was currently wearing her usual gray dress with the pink apron on the front.

They had been shopping the day after he moved in and got tonnes of brand new clothes for him however almost all of it was red, black or gray. When he asked why he could not have any other colour Lana told him everyone wears these colours because they are the colours of the Fire Nation and it shows their loyalty.

It had been three months since Naruto had arrived in the new world and Naruto immediately fell in love with the new world. Even though it was a big adjustment he slowly got use to the place and got use to the rules and system of the Fire Nation. The people treated him much better, he had Lana who had pretty much taken the role of his mother in his life and had a warm place to sleep at night with food on the table and clothes on his back.

Lana had tried to get him enrolled in the Fire Nation Academy but due to it being in the middle of the school year they did not have any luck. However fortunately Lady Ursa who had taken a bit of an interest in Naruto's life ever since their meeting had helped to instate Naruto into the school. The school seemed alright so far though he did get a bit of attention due how unusual his appearance was.

It would have been nice to have been with Zuko, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee but Zuko went to the Royal Fire Nation Academy for boys while the girls went the Royal Fire Nation Academy for girls. They were the upper class school only for royals and nobles to send their children too.

But he didn't let it get him down since his class seemed nice enough. A made a few friends and He catch up in the class very quickly since he had done a lot of research on Fire Nation with Kurama in the library when he first arrived and went back a few more times mealy out of curiosity. That and there were no bastard instructors trying to hold him back or ruin his academics.

Both Naruto and Lana were very thankful towards Lady Ursa who simply waved it off saying she was happy to help on the condition that Naruto would come and play with Zuko and the others to which Naruto immediately agreed upon.

"Come and get ready. We have to be at the palace in twenty minutes" she said as Naruto quickly ran upstairs to put his books away before he returned down stairs. She looked at his clothing and gave a nod of approval before they went hand in hand out the door and headed towards the giant Fire Nation royal palace.

Since Lady Ursa had been so kind to him ever since he arrived to the Avatar world, Naruto had asked Lana whether he could work in the palace after his schooling as a way of repaying Lady Ursa's kindness. Lana was at first a little sceptical but she nodded and went over it with Ursa who was also a little surprised until she nodded happily and said it would be fine.

Naruto was quite an enigma in her eyes but she saw the good in him and she had to admit she had developed a bit of a soft spot for him. Not only that but Zuko and the others seemed happier when he was around even if he was not around much. Even Azula and Mai who most of the times were stoic and emotionless came out of their shells slightly with him around.

Since then Naruto did simple chores around the palace such as helping with the laundry or moping the floors.

"Lana how long have you been working at the palace for?" Naruto asked as he looked up at Lana who too glanced down at him.

"Let me think" he said tapping her chin with her right index finger." I think I have worked in the palace for about ten years" she said. "I started when I was twenty three and had just gotten married to my husband."

"Do you enjoy working there?" he asked.

"Sometimes. Although Lady Ursa and Prince Zuko are nice to be around are generally nice towards all the servants Azula can be a bit of a handful at times while Ozai's just an ass" she said causing the two to break out into a fit of giggles.

"Glad we agree on that" Naruto said. That was pretty much the definition of Ozai to Naruto. When Naruto was doing errands in the palace a few days ago Ozai saw him and demanded what he was doing back in the palace. When Naruto told him what Lady Ursa had done for him and that he was helping out the servants in the palace as a way of thanks Ozai just frowned and simply walked away not even sparing a second glance or saying another word to him.

"What about Zuko and Azula's uncle? What's he like?" Naruto asked. He was genuinely curious about Ozia's older brother. He had heard good things from many of the other servants and even Zuko had spoken highly of him.

Lara face broke out into a big smile. "Prince Iroh is probably the nicest man you and anyone else could ever meet. He is nothing like his younger brother Prince Ozai that you begin to wonder whether the two are actually related. They are just the complete polar opposites of each other. He kind to the servants in the palace and even let them drink tea with them from time to time. I have never met a man so in love with tea."

"Tea?" Naruto said raising his eyebrows.

"Yep. The man really loves his tea. He probably loves his tea as much as you love your ramen" she said flicking Naruto's forehead.

"Woh that's some serious tea loving" Naruto said rubbing his forehead

"However he may be fun loving but he is also one of the strongest fire benders Fire Nation has ever produced. He was said to have defeated one of the last great dragons which in turn earned him the nickname Dragon of the West.

"Woh what a cool name" Naruto thought while Kurama nodded his head in agreement.

"_**This man could be of some use later on"**_ Kurama thought as he listened in on the conversation.

"Thankfully he is the older brother so when Fire Lord Azulon passes away it will be Prince Iroh that will take the throne. With Iroh as the Fire Lord then maybe this war could finally come to a close. The man is more peaceful then his father and brother."

"We can only hope" both Naruto and Kurama said before they then walked in a comfortable silence.

After about ten minutes the palace eventually made its way into view and they made the walk up the long steps towards the gates.

After trekking up the stone steps the guards recognised the two and opened up for the two. Lana gave them a nod while Naruto gave them wave, one the two guards happily returned. Naruto seemed to not only made an impact on members of the royal family but on the other servants and the guards.

They all simply found him to be a joy to be around and could have pretty good conversations with and even offered the guards some food or drinks to which the guards appreciated greatly. Plus all the female servants found him cute and adorable and would scratch his whisker marks which always sent Naruto into a fit of giggles since they were sensitive.

Once they got into the palace Lana went her way towards the palace kitchens while Naruto went towards the laundry room.

Walking into the laundry room were a few of the other servants who were currently folding up and washing large stacks of clothing.

"Good afternoon everyone."

"Hello Naruto" they all said pleasantly with smiles on their face before returning to work.

For the next hour Naruto sat their folding shirt after shirt. Thankfully he had some of the women who were friends with Lana in there with him so he made idle chat with them. They would ask him he was doing in his studies and did he enjoy living with Lana. He told them all how much he was enjoying living with her and at one point even referred to her as mom which made the other servants eyes widen at how quickly he had taken to her.

When Naruto tried to correct himself and they saw his flustered looking face they all had to fight back from chuckling and glomping the blonde boy. They all told him that he should call her that more often since she would probably enjoy being called that again.

In the kitchen meanwhile Lana was currently thinking in a similar manner. She had been very lonely the past few years with her husband and son both passing away and would never admit it to others but for some time she was very depressed. Naruto had come into her life seemingly at the right moment.

While she wanted to have a child again, Naruto needed or should she say craved to have a mother in his life. With him her motherly instincts just seemed to kick into over drive and she couldn't help but fuss over him. Simply she did not want to lose him like she did everyone else.

Back in the Laundry room Naruto finally finished his pile of clothing before he headed over to the kitchen and made lemonade. Once done he put them all on a tray and began to walk around the palace grounds and gave some to the gate guards.

"Here you go guys. Some refreshments for you" Naruto said handing the drinks to the two. Their names were Tsung and Chow and Naruto couldn't help but compare them to the two lazy gate guards back in the leaf Izumo and Kotetsu.

"Thanks little buddy" Chow said ruffling Naruto's hair.

"Yeah we appreciate it kid. It gets way to hot in this armour so these drinks come in handy" Tsung said.

"Any time. See you guys later" he said before walking off to the next set of guards.

"See you Naruto" they both waved before muttering what a good kid he was before returning to duty.

For the next hour Naruto went to and from the kitchen giving all the guards refreshments and all gave him their thanks. Most were surprised at good his balance and stamina was. It could not have been easy balancing that many glasses on a single tray but he somehow managed it. Naruto's balance had always been good, not quite Ty Lee levels but enough to show how well versed in it he was.

Once that was done his few chores were done for the day and began to walk around the palace looking for his friends.

"Hello there little fishcake" a teasing voice called from behind him and Naruto turned around to see Lady Ursa standing there with a teasing look on her face.

"Lady Ursa please stop calling me that" Naruto whined making Ursa giggle.

"I'm sorry but Ty Lee and Azula are right. You're too easy to tease. How are you today?" Naruto she asked in a soft tone.

"I'm very well thank you" he said in a politeful tone. "My homework is all done for the day and all my chores in the palace are finished. I was just looking for Zuko and the others. I wanted to play with them for a bit before Mom-I mean Lara finishes work and we go home" he said trying to cover his slip up but Ursa did catch it and smiled.

"Well Azula, Zuko, Ty Lee and Mai's studies won't be done for another twenty minutes since their homework is not quite done yet and the tutor is still with them. If you are finished with your chores why don't you have tea with me in the gardens? I think you have earned it. I have heard good things about you from all the servants and the guards" she said getting a surprised look.

"Well I just like making people happy" he said. "But are you sure it's okay for me to have tea with you? What if Lord Ozai see's?"

"Oh don't worry about Ozai. If he does ask what we are doing I will take care of it."

"Then sure I would love to have tea with you" he said as Ursa held her hand out and gently took Naruto's into hers and led them to the garden.

There's was a small table was already set up under a tree so that they could be under the shade when they arrived and Ursa gently bored them some herbal tea into their cups.

Naruto watched the steam rise from the cup before he took a long sip. At first he was not much for tea but it was Lady Ursa who had kind of gotten him into it. She loved the stuff but from what he heard about Prince Iroh, it seemed he took his love for it to a whole new level.

As they drank in silence Naruto looked over at a nearby pond and watched as turtle ducks peacefully swam around the lily pads. He saw a baby that looked like it was struggling to swim and for a few seconds Naruto thought that it was going to sink. However coming up from behind it was the little creature's mom who that gently helped its baby glide through the pond.

Naruto had a sad smile on his face to which Ursa quickly noticed and saw him staring at the mother and baby.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" she said getting Naruto's attention. "Watching a mother raise her child, it's one of the real pleasures and joys in life. You were thinking about your birth mother weren't you?" She asked softly.

Naruto looked up at her and nodded.

Ursa scooted her chair closers to Naruto's. "It's okay to feel sad. Being sad shows how much you loved them. My parents passed away a few years ago and it does get lonely without them and you do go through hard times without them. But you should remember that there are people still with us that can keep us moving forwards. Your birth mother may be gone, but you do have someone who would like to be your mother" he said hinting towards Lana.

"Lana" he said with Ursa nodding in confirmation. "But does she feel that way towards me? I know she lost her son and husband but why would she want me as her son?"

"Well Naruto" Ursa said. "When you become a mom it's like a need or a want to just look after their own child and protect them from the world. I feel it every day with both Zuko and Azula. Even Ty Lee and Mai who despite not being my children or are of my blood, I still can't help but want to help them and look after them. It just motherly instincts.

"When Lana saw you I guess her motherly instincts that were dormant ever since her son died kicked in and woke up. She just wants to love you and takes care of you like any mother would."

"If I called her mom, do you think she will mind? I don't want to upset her or make her feel sad" then he said making Ursa chuckle softly.

"Naruto I can assure you she would love it if you called her that. You shouldn't worry so much. It will give you wrinkles" she said once again teasing him.

"Lady Ursa stop teasing me" he whined making Ursa chuckle even more which caused Naruto to break into a fit of giggles. Not too far away the guards in the area overheard their little conversation and were too chuckling at how badly the Princess teased the young blonde.

Once the giggling died down the two sat in another comfortable silence. They just watched the tortoise ducks swim around in the pond and watching the cherry blossoms fall from a nearby cherry blossom tree and float away courtesy of the wind.

"You know, they should be finishing their studies by now. Do you want to go see them" Ursa asked to which Naruto eagerly nodded

However before Naruto could fully get off of his seat a high pitched squeal sounded the area causing most to cover their ears.

"Naruto" the squealing voice called. When said blonde turned around he was immediate glomped and knocked of the chair by an airborne Ty Lee who had a big happy smile on his face.

"Hi Ty Lee" he said as he tried to catch his breath.

"Hi Naruto" she said giving him a back breaking hug which nearly made his eyes pop out of his sockets. While this happened Azula, Zuko and Mai walked up to them rolling their eyes at Ty Lee's antics and couldn't help but have a bit of sympathy for Naruto. Ty Lee really was surprisingly strong for a small skinny girl.

Ursa also watched this with fascination as Naruto tried to pry the girl off but was not having much luck.

"Oh my, how forward Ty Lee. What would your parents think?" Ursa said teasing the two and making them turn shades of red. "Now I think you should let Naruto go before you cause him to suffocate."

Ty Lee nodded and reluctantly got off but stayed close since in the past two weeks she had become very fond of Naruto.

"Hey guys" Naruto said looking at the group.

"Hey Naruto" Zuko said with a smile while Azula gave him a nod and Mai just gave a poor excuse of a wave.

"What were you doing out here?" Zuko asked but was quickly answered by Ursa.

"We were just having tea. Naruto finished his chores around the palace and his homework from school so I asked him to tea. We had a nice chat and a pleasant time" she said with Naruto nodded.

"Sounds wonderful" Mai said with sarcasm before she sat in one of the seats and began playing with her dress.

"So what do you guys want to do? Naruto asked. Hide and seek?"

"Actually Naruto were sorry but we ran into are father when we finished and we kind of have to practice our firebending Zuko said sadly.

"We asked if we could wait an hour but father said no. Sorry whiskers" Azula said before she walked away to the palace training grounds. "Come on Zu zu."

"Stop calling me that" Zuko shouted before he gave a sorry glance to Naruto. "Another time Naruto. I will see you soon" he said before he followed after her.

"Well I guess it's just us three" he said before noticing Mai had disappeared.

"She went home. Said she was tired" Ty Lee said so Naruto shrugged.

"Guess it's just us" he said smiling to her which equally made her smile. Naruto then got on his hands and did a hand stands before quickly moving away.

"Handstand race around the garden" he said moving off.

"Hey no head starts" Ty Lee said pouting before he too did a handstand and quickly raced after.

"Come on Ty Lee better speed up before I beat you" he called out only to notice the brown haired girl was catching up. Catching up very quickly.

"Oh no you don't" she said as the two crossed the half way point around the garden. Their odd little race had caught the attention of some of the guards who were looking at the children as if they had grown a second head.

"Kids get weirder every day, I swear" one of the guards said while the other chuckled.

"Take this" Ty Lee said as she tried to kick Naruto's lets with her own while their legs were currently held up in the air.

"Hey no fair" Naruto complained causing Ty Lee to laugh.

"Well you got a head start so I get to kick you" she said kicking him again before a devious plan came to mind. While the two were walking on their hands Ty Lee used her left foot to begin slipping off the shoe on the right. When it finally got lose she kicked it towards Naruto and whacked him in the head.

"Wooohhh" Naruto said as he began to wobble before he eventually lost his balance and fell flat on his face making Naruto and Ursa who was still watching the two began to laugh.

"Looks like I win Naruto" she said as she got off her hands and back on her two feet currently wearing one shoe and the other being barefoot.

"Hey no fair. You threw a shoe at me."

"I didn't throw a shoe. I kicked it" she said smugly causing Naruto pout.

"_**Kid that was pathetic. You just got beaten by that tiny girl again. I thought you had good balance and were fast."**_

"I am fast and I do have good balance. She just outsmarted me that's all. Besides I'm only eight. What do you expect?"

"_**Yeah and she is younger then you. What's your next excuse?"**_ Kurama asked causing Naruto to grumble something under his breath.

"Naruto can I have my shoe back please?" Ty Lee said extending her hand out. However Naruto got a wicked look on his face, one that Ty Lee didn't like.

"Naruto what are you doing?" she said backing away slightly before Naruto gently tackled her to the ground and grabbed her foot. He then began to tickle her mercilessly which caused loud laughter to be heard all around the palace.

"No haha please haha stop haha it" Ty Lee tried to say but the words just came out as gibberish as Naruto continued to tickle her.

"Say you cheated" he said but she stubbornly shook her head while she laughed.

"Never" she rasped out.

"Then I'm never going to stop" he said as the tickling got even quicker causing Ty Lee to break out into another fit of laughter. After a minute Ty Lee finally relented.

"Okay okay you win" she said making Naruto stop the tickling and have a smug smile on his face.

"You meanie" Ty Lee pouted before she broke out into a smile and two fell into a fit of giggles.

All the while Ursa was watching the two with keen interest. "Oh when those two are older they will fall for each other hard" she thought before she continued to watch while she drank her tea.

For the next hour of so the two played tag in the garden and once that got boring they sat around the pond and watched the turtle ducks.

"Hey Naruto" Ty Lee said getting a glance from the blonde haired boy. "We are friends right?"

"Of course. In fact you were my first friend so I guess that makes you my best friend right?" He asked causing Ty Lee to have the biggest smile on her face and lunge in for a hug. Normally most noble families were not to come into any kind of physical contact with commoner and normal civilians but Ursa had assure them that Naruto was a nice young man who simply needed friends.

Ty Lee's parents were a little sceptical at first but in the past two weeks they saw Ty Lee was even happier than usual which they believe Naruto was causing. So they didn't mind it as long as they were watched by the guards.

"In that case you're my best male friend since Azula and Mai are both my best females' friends."

"That makes sense. Zuko would therefore be my best male friend" he said to which Ty Lee nodded before holding out her pinkie. "Promise me we will always be friends forever no matter what" she said.

Naruto looked curiously at it before smiling and connecting her pinkie finger with his. "It's a promise of a lifetime. Believe it" he said making Ty Lee smile more.

"Naruto" a voice called making him look up to see Lana. "My shift is finished so it's time to go" she said.

"I'll be right over" he said before he turned back to Ty Lee who now had a sad smile on her face.

"I guess I'll see you next time I'm in the palace" he said as he and Ty Lee hugged each other good bye before he walked over to Lana.

"Bye Naruto" she said before she too began to head for home with a few guards following her making sure she got their safely.

"Have fun?" Lana asked as Naruto walked over to which he nodded his head.

"Yeah it was good. Though Azula and Zuko had to go to their fire bending practise and Mai was bored so she went home. So it was just me and Ty Lee today."

"That's nice" she said as the two headed out of the palace.

However before they could get to the gates they passed one of fire bending training grounds and Naruto could see Zuko with his two fire nation soldiers observing his flames. He looked pretty good at it but the flames were kind of small and they kept flickering.

"_**His stance is a little sloppy. Plus his control does not look all that great"**_ Kurama said in Naruto's head as the two watched from a distance

"Really? How can you tell?"

"**Naruto all spirits have certain element affinity similar to the people of this world and the shinobi world. At the northern Water Tribe you have the moon spirit which is mainly focuses on the water element. That's why at night and under a full moon water benders have their powers increased. My element is Fire and therefore I can tell when a stance is sloppy or how much power a blast has behind it."**

"Woh you never told me that" Naruto said causing the great fox to shrug.

"**It never came up" **he said making Naruto sweat drop.** "By the looks of your friend, he is probably a late bloomer and must be a bit of a black sheep in the family if his fire bending is not all that great. His sister on the other hand" **Kurama saidas Naruto turned his head and eyes widened at what he saw.

He saw Azula standing calm and expressionless with her knees slightly bent and arms out wide as blue fire wrapped around it and shot fire ball the size of footballs towards some targets. Standing around her were two elderly ladies that must have been twins since they both looked exactly the same.

"That's Lo and Li" Lana said coming up from behind him.

"Who are they?" Naruto asked

"They are Princess Azula's mentors in combat and firebending though they are not fire benders themselves."

"Then how can she be teaching Azula to firebend?"

"Just because someone does not know how to fire bend does not mean they can't learn the methods and stances. I'm sure there's much more to fire bending then just shooting out fire."

"_**She has a point"**_ Kurama said in his mind but Naruto ignored it as he became entranced with Azula and her fire bending. As beautiful as the regular orange fire was, there was just something about the blue fire that caught his attention.

"It's amazing" Naruto thought with Kurama agreeing.

"_**I must admit the girl must be a true prodigy to be able to use blue fire. The only life forms I have seen to ever use blue fire were dragons that could wield and breathe any variations of colourful flames. The blue fire possesses more physical force and produces a combustive effect that is more intense than that of normal fire. When the girl gets older she will be a force to reckon with."**_

"Incredible" Naruto thought before he spoke to Kurama and asked "Can I learn Firebending or is it impossible?"

"_**It's not impossible"**_ Kurama said. "_**If you want to fire bend I can give you the ability though we can discuss it more about it tonight. Once Lana has gone to bed, go outside and go into the seal. We can discuss it there."**_

"Cool" Naruto thought at the prospect of being able to fire bend just like Azula and Zuko.

"Come on Naruto" Lana said to which Naruto nodded and the two left the palace.

* * *

**Hours later**

It was now just going past midnight when Naruto snuck out and went into the small back yard of the house. Lana had gone to bed an hour go and Kurama believed it was best to wait an hour just to be sure she was asleep.

He was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed as he closed his eyes,

"_**Come into the seal"**_ Kurama said making Naruto nod. After a couple of seconds Naruto opened his eyes and found himself in the standing in front of Kurama.

"So you can really help me learn how to Fire Bend?" Naruto asked.

"_**I** **can however first we will have to make a few modifications to you and explain Fir bending to you"**_ Kurama said making Naruto raise his eyebrows.

"_**Fire is known as the element of power, consisting of overpowering force tempered by the unflinching will to accomplish tasks and desires. Originally it was ones willpower and their drive to succeed that powered their firebending."**_

"_**However, I have noticed that the recently militaristic Fire Nation has twisted this into firebending being fuelled by rage, hate, and anger. Despite this being a strong method it is also limited. Once one loses their anger, they will therefore lose the ability to firebend and will then either have to find a new way to firebend or basically find something new get angry about."**_

"_**Also firebending draws its power from the sun, and the first human firebenders derived their firebending techniques from the dragons."**_

"So I'm guessing you will be training me to use the original method to fire bend. To use ones willpower and drive to firebend?" Naruto said making the giant fox nod.

_**"That's right. As far as I am concerned it's the stronger method of the two and can help you in leaps and bounds. But there may be small matters to take care off when your older"**_ he said going into another explanation.

_**"Even though you're not from this world originally every one still has an element affinity. I have determined that your original bending powers would be air bending since you have a wind affinity but that does not mean you can't fire bend."**_

_**"Since I am a great spirit of fire I can implant the ability into you. In doing so you will become the first person other than the Avatar to wield more than one element.**_

"Woh that's awesome" Naruto shouted before being interrupted.

"_**Yes as awesome as it is you forget that all air benders have been wiped out. If someone see's you airbending it could cause future problems."**_

"Plus if they see me using two different elements then they may believe that I'm the Avatar."

_**"Correct. This is why for now we will only focus on your firebending."**_

"Makes sense" Naruto said before Kurama motioned for him to come forwards.

"_**Now just so you know, the fire bending power will be a little different from others. Instead of being orange and yellow like normal fire benders, the colour of your fire bending will be red. Since my flames are red I have decided to give you them instead of regular fire. It's not like I can currently use them"**_ he said.

"_**The flames will be just as strong as Azula's blue flames given you master and control it properly"**_ Kurama said as the tip of one of his tails pokes Naruto in the chest a stream of red energy makes its way into Naruto's body.

Naruto breathing hitch's slightly as he is forced down to one knee, the energy stinging and straining his muscles.

"_**I know it hurts but it will be over quickly"**_ Kurama said in support as the red energy around Naruto seeped into his chest further making him writhe around in pain.

After a further excruciating minute the red energy was all gone and Naruto's body stopped twitching.

Slowly Naruto got up though very groggily as Kurama used hone of his tails to support him.

"_**How do you feel?"**_ Kurama asked Naruto while the blonde haired boys breathing finally got back to normal.

"How do you think? My body is killing me. It feels like a pulled every muscle in my body."

"_**Well what do you expect? You just had firebending implanted in your body" **_Kurama chuckled.

"True I guess. But did it work?" Naruto asked.

_**"Go out of the seal and we shall find out**_" Kurama encouraged.

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes before he felt a gust of wind hit his face. When he opened them he was back in Lara's back yard.

"_**Okay now stand up"**_ Kurama said to which Naruto did. _**"Do you remember the stance Azula was in when you saw her use that fire ball earlier?" **_He asked to which Naruto nodded.

"_**Good get in that stance"**_ he said to which Naruto did. He bent his knees slightly and had one arm stretched out in front of him while the other was cocked back.

"Huuah" Naruto called out a thrust fist out but nothing happened. Not even flicker or a small plume of smoke.

"_**Did I do it wrong?" Naruto said while Kurama rolled his eyes.**_

"_**Of course you did. I told you that you're using the original method of firebending. You have to want to firebend. Use your willpower and drive to create the fire. Feel the fire in your heart and spread it throughout your body."**_

"_**This time take your time instead of being impatient and remember to breath" **_Kurama said as Naruto got in the stance again.

Okay breath in and out Naruto thought to himself. He stood there for minutes trying to feel some kind of flicker in his chest or his arms but there was nothing.

"This is impossible" Naruto thought but Kurama's voice rang out.

"_**You need something to fight for. Something to keep you motivated. I gave you this power so now it's up to you on how you want to use it. What is your cause? Why do you fight? Who will you PROTECT?"**_

"Protect" Naruto said aloud as he began thinking of the few friends and people that cared for him in the three months he had been here. He pictured them in his head, playing with Zuko and the girls, sitting in the royal garden with Lady Ursa, living with Lana and his pinkie swear with Ty Lee.

"_Promise we will be friends forever no matter what"_

"Lana, Lady Ursa, Azula, Mai, Zuko...Ty Lee" he thought aloud to himself. "I want to protect them. I want to use my power to protect them" he said again.

It was then that a warm sensation spread through his body. It felt as if he was on fire but the pain was not their. Just this warm soothing heat he felt from his finger tips all the way down to his toes.

"_**There you go, now use it"**_ Kurama encourage as Naruto got in his stance again cocked his fist back and then threw it forward.

"Huuah" he said aloud again only this time red fire shot out of his fist and went forward soaring through the air. Thankfully the blast dissipated quickly before it could hit one of the wooden fences but to Naruto he did not care. He just firebended.

There were small flickers of the red flame left from the blast that shone through the air and night sky to which Naruto couldn't help but marvel in its beauty. It was just as beautiful as Azula's blue flame and there were even small flickers of yellow and orange in there.

"_**Good job kid. You just fire bended."**_

"It's amazing" Naruto said as he continued to stare at it. "My firebending, it comes from wanting to protect those precious to me doesn't it?"

"_**It looks that way. With that as your source for fire bending you will no doubt become a great firebender and one the strongest around. Just never become arrogant and cocky otherwise your anger and rage will take over.**_

"I understand" Naruto said as he dropped into a sitting position and looked up at the stars.

"There's so many" he whispered as the star lit up the dark sky. "I don't think there were even this many back in Konoha."

"_**Beautiful aren't they. There was once a time when and my sibling would just lie on the ground like you are and simply look at the stars. Those times seem so far away right now."**_

Naruto would have commented but a voice called out to him.

"Naruto" the voice called catching him a little of guard. When he looked around he saw Lana standing on the small patio rubbing her eyes slightly while wearing a pair of pink sweats and a white top for sleepwear.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked.

"Oh I couldn't get to sleep so I thought some fresh air might help" he said thinking of the first excuse he could think of though Lana seemed to accept it.

"Well come on back inside. It's getting cold out here" she said to which Naruto nodded and headed back inside.

"Okay thanks mom" he said not realising what he said as he walked past and went back into the house leaving a wide eyed Lana.

"Did he just call me mom?" she whispered letting a few happy tears roll down her cheek.

She looked up at the sky and whispered "thank you for giving me a second chance."

She then turned back around and went back inside to bed.

* * *

**Chapter 3 Complete**

**Thanks for reading and please REVIEW :)**


	4. Growing Friendship

Chapter 4

**Six Months Later**

It had been just over six months since Kurama had implanted the Firebending within Naruto and since then whenever Naruto had some free time, no matter how small it was the fox had him practice and practise his firebending. Naruto didn't complain since he found he enjoyed the training and if it meant that he could get to Azula's level then he would be happy.

He had watched the young princess a few times while she firebended and was still amazed at her control of the blue fire. Though she did catch him watching once and sent a fireball towards him that hit the spot next to him. When she asked why he was spying he simply made up the excuse that he was passing by and caught got up watching her firebend. He said how great she was which instantly made her feel a little smug and quickly forgot that he was watching.

Kurama without a doubt had been impressed with his progress which was going at quite the rapid pace. He found that as long as you explained it well enough to Naruto to the point where he understands what to do and how to do it, he will get it down in no time flat. He was like a sponge just soaking up all the information. With a great spirit whose element was fire teaching him, both Naruto and Kurama believe they that he could give Azula a good match and although maybe not quite win yet, could defiantly draw with her.

Right now they were in a small isolated forest where Kurama had encouraged Naruto since it was not wise to continue to train in Lana's back yard since

"_**Right fist"**_ Kurama said telepathically to Naruto as Naruto shot his right fist forward shooting out a decent sized fireball made of red fire.

"_**Sweeping kick"**_ came the next instruction as Naruto quickly bent down and did a sweeping kick with his right leg which caused a long spire of fire to shoot out and hit the tree.

"_**Left foot"**_ the fox said as Naruto shot his left foot into the air and shot out a pillar of red fire towards an open area so that none of the trees would get caught in the blast.

"_**Palms together and swing down"**_ was the next instruction as Naruto did as told which created a long fire like whip that was as thick as a tree trunk and brought it down crashing to the ground creating a small blast of smoke to be created covering the nearby terrain.

When the smoke cleared an out of breath Naruto fell to the ground and landed on his butt and he took deep breaths as he looked at the spots of destruction caused by his firebending.

"_**Pretty good kid, you have come far in the last six months."**_

"Well I have a pretty good teacher" Naruto replied happy with the compliment.

"_**Well considering I'm a spirit of fire I am pretty much the best teacher for firebending around anywhere."**_

"Good point" Naruto said as moved along the ground and leaned against a tree trunk.

"Man talk about devastation. Firebending can be really destructive" Naruto said as he looked around the area to see a few broken trees's, rocks that had been reduced to rubble from strong fireballs and some of the earth had been turned.

"_**When many see firebending all they think about it the destruction that it caused and only see it as pure destruction and death. What they don't see is how beautiful fire is and yes although it is deadly it can also bring life to the world and it make everyone feel free and warm. It's only destructive and evil when it's used for evil purposes."**_

"Like the how the Fire lord and the Fire Nation are using it" Naruto said as he looked up at the sky and stared up at the sun as it was slightly blocked out but the leaves in the tree's making small stream of light make their way through.

"_**You don't agree how the Fire Nation is using Firebending?"**_ he asked curiously.

"I'm not entirely sure. I know I'm still kind of new to this world and to firebending but I like to think I have come far in these six months. When I see my firebending and compare it to other firebenders it's almost as if while mine are pure flames, theirs are corrupted flames since they use anger while I use will power and drive. Like when I watch Azula or Zuko when they firebend and I look at their eyes, they look angry and full of pain.

"_**Interesting explanation"**_ Kurama said thoughtfully. _**"To notice something like that shows you have come far in these past months. **_

"I guess"Naruto said before he stood up and began to exit the forest. He passed the shopkeepers and market traders who all gave him a kind smile as he passed making him wave back to them. After a few minutes of walking he arrived home. He walked through the front door and entered the kitchen where he saw Lana who looked over to him and smiled warmly.

"Welcome home Naruto. Lunch will be ready in a moment" she said as Naruto took his place at the table.

"Thanks mom" he said. Ever since he called her that the night he received his firebending Lara had pretty much been calling him son ever since. When others asked she would simple tell them Naruto was her son and she was his mother and that how it was going to be from now on.

"So how was your firebending practice?" she asked as she put his food down in front of him. Lara was currently the only person who knew that he could firebend since she was his mother and she did have a right to know. When he had told her she very surprised and even more surprised when he showed that his flames were a different colour just like Azula's. He made her swear to secrecy since he did not want people knowing he could firebend until he had at least got to a decent enough level.

"It went well. My aim with the fire is better as well as the control. Practice make perfect."

"Very true" she said as the two dug into their lunch with Naruto eating at a rather quick pace since firebending always made him hungry.

"So what are your plans for today?" she asked since it was a Saturday and Naruto finished his homework the day before.

"Well I was thinking of maybe going to see if Ty Lee and the others wanted to hang out today."

"That sounds nice, just remember to be respectful my little fishcake" she said making Naruto give her an adorable pout which made her want to crush him in a hug.

"It' doesn't mean fishcake, it means maelstrom and stop calling me that. It's bad enough Lady Ursa keep calling me that" he said. Still Lady Ursa would call him fishcake despite asking her not to. The Princess of Fire Nation had a thing for teasing, so much that Azula was beginning to call him fishcake too. It was either Whiskers or fishcake, never just Naruto.

"Okay okay my little Naruto" she said kissing him on the forehead before Naruto gave her a quick hug, thanked her for lunch before he left the kitchen and left the house again.

"That boy" she said shaking her head with a smile plastered on her face as she went about her day.

* * *

**With Naruto**

Naruto was currently walking through the higher class area of the capital as he made his way over to Ty Lee house. There whole area was filled with very expensive looking houses and mansions, many of which were large estates.

After walking for some time he finally got to Ty Lee's home which was one of the larger estates with the estate being around 4 acres large. He got to the front gate where he saw some of the gate guards that all high class and noble families seemed to have.

"Halt" one of the warriors said as Naruto neared the gate and stop about a metre in front of Naruto.

"What is your name and purpose here?"

"My names Naruto Uzumaki. I wanted to see if Ty Lee was around and if she wanted to come out and play."

The guard nodded but spoke up." I'm sorry but unfortunately Ty Lee and her family have gone away for the weekend with her friend Mai and her family. I believe they will be back sometime next week."

"Oh" Naruto said a little saddened that his best friend was away but tried not to show it. "Well thank you for letting me know and have a nice day" Naruto said as he turned around and left while the guard went back to his post.

"Well there goes my weekend" Naruto thought.

"_**Why don't you go to the palace and see if Zuko and Azula are around"**_ Kurama encouraged form within the seal.

"Do you think that would be okay? Usually Ty Lee and Mai are there with us."

"**You won't know unless you try."**

"Hmm" Naruto thought as he stopped and tapped his chin. He thought that maybe it could be a good chance to get to know Azula a little better plus be able to hang out with Zuko.

"Good point. I guess I can try" he said as he changed direction and went in the direction of the palace.

* * *

**20 minutes later**

Naruto walked to the giant entrance of the royal palace and saw two the all too familiar Tsung and Chang in their usual spots at the front of the gates. The duo saw him coming and smiled

"Afternoon Naruto, I didn't realise you had some chores in the palace today" Tsung said.

"Not today actually. I went round to see if Ty Lee wanted to come out and play but she and Mai's families have gone away for the weekend so I thought I would try my luck with Azula and Zuko."

"Hmm I guess it couldn't hurt to let you in. Most in the palace like you and you don't cause that much trouble" Tsung said. After half a minute of thinking Tsung and Chang shrugged and opened the gate slightly to let Naruto in.

"Thanks guys" Naruto said running in giving them a wave to which the two waved back before closing the gates.

As Naruto walked through the palace grounds many of the servants who were on duty that day along with many of the guard gave him a wave of a nod as he passed. As he passed the royal training grounds he stopped when he spotted Azula in the grounds with her usual two trainers Lo and Li as she practiced her fire bending and decided to walk over.

Azula whipped the blue fire around her as she turned her body but was a little surprised to see Naruto walking towards her with a pretty happy look on his face.

"Whiskers, what are you doing here?" She asked not stopping as the fire twisted around her.

"Well I wanted to see if you and Zuko maybe wanted to hang out today?"

"Sorry whiskers but Zuko has gone out with mother for the day" she said as she gritted her teeth mentioning her brother and Mother. "I have to practice my firebending. Sorry" she said as she went back to her training.

"Oh ok, no worries" he said as he began to walk away but before he could walk a far distance Kurama's voice sounded out.

"_**Hold up kid this could be a good chance to see how far you have come in your firebending"**_ Kurama said shocking Naruto.

"Are you sure it okay to reveal my firebending? What if they ask why I have red fire?"

"_**You are at a decent enough level in my eyes to shows your firebending to the world. They will undoubtedly ask how you have red fire, just say you do not know and your fire was just like that when you first discovered it."**_

Naruto bit his lip. "Well okay, if you think I am ready then I guess it is time" he said as he turned back around.

"Hey Azula" Naruto called out making Azula, Lo and Li frown.

"What is it now Naruto? I'm busy" Azula huffed out not even bothering to glace at him.

"Child you must stop interrupting these lessons. It is imperative that Azula become a master firebender" Lo and Li said together slightly freaking Naruto and Kurama out.

"I know but I wanted to know if you wanted to train in firebending together he asked causing Azula to falter slightly and her blue fire to go out. She turned around and looked at Naruto curiously as did the twins.

"Naruto you don't know how to fire bend. So why would I want to train with you?" she asked not convinced by what he was saying.

Naruto frowned and looked around and saw a wooden dummy used for firebending target practice. He smirked as he went beside Azula.

"Watch" he said as he cocked his right fist back. He felt the familiar warm feeling spread through his body as flickers of red fire began to flicker around him catching the three girl's attention. He then threw his fist forwards and fired out a large fireball that sped towards the training dummy and hit the dummy dead centre. When the small dust clouds settle the top half of the dummy was gone while bit of red fire remained still flickering slightly.

"See" Naruto said but had to bite back a chuckle when he saw Azula and the twin's bewildered expression.

"Red fire" Lo and Li murmured as they continued to stare at the flickers of red flames on the training dummy while Azula turned to him with a slightly shocked yet also amazed look on her face.

"Y-Your fire" she stuttered out. "It's a different colour just like mine. How?" She asked with Lo and Li nodding as well as the shock finally began to fade.

Naruto just shrugged. "I have no idea. I found out I could firebend six months ago but didn't tell anyone since I wanted to get to a decent enough level until I started showing people. With the colour, I don't really know. It has just always been red" Naruto lied but felt then sighed happily when the three nodded.

"This boy" Lo and Li thought. "Only one entity has ever wielded red fire but that entity disappeared over a century ago. It must just be a coincidence" they thought before Azula grasped Naruto's hands and looked him straight in the eyes with her own amber ones.

"Train with me" she said with determination. "I want to see how strong your red fire is compared to my blue fire."

Naruto had a huge smile plastered on his face. "You're on" he said making Azula grin as the two moved and stood around fifteen metres away from each other.

"Hmm this boy could be a benefit to Azula's training" the twins thought as Naruto and Azula now had blue and red fire flickering around them before they each began to hurl fireball towards each.

* * *

**In The Palace**

Walking around the palace grounds Fire Lord Azulon as he began going over plan after plan on how to conquer Earth Kingdom just like he did with the Southern Water Tribe. He thought about how well their campaign in Earth Kingdom was currently going and that it was only a matter of time before Iroh would bring down Ba Sing Se.

The Fire lord quickly stopped when they saw two soldiers run over towards the royal firebending training ground at a quick pace and both looked quite excited.

"Stop" Azulon commanded making the two soldiers stop. "What is going on and why is everyone in a rush?"

"I apologise my lord but it seems Princess Azula had finally found someone worth sparring against in firebending" one of the solider said getting curious glances from the Fire Lord. "The blonde haired boy who works around the palace seems to be able to firebend. However his fire is a different colour just like Princess Azula's."

"Really" Azulon asked intrigued with this new development. "Lead me there" he said making the two guard nod and escorts the Fire Lord towards the training grounds.

When they arrived Azulon eyes had slightly widened giving away his usual emotionless look when he saw the young blonde boy actually managing to hold his own against his granddaughter. He knew full well how great a fire bender Azula was and at such a young age that she would clearly become the best of her generation unlike her brother Zuko who was nothing more than a disappointment in Azulon and Ozia's eyes.

But when he saw Naruto holding his own against Azula with that magnificent red fire he saw potential, great potential that could benefit the Fire Nation. However there was something that bugged the Fire Lord as he looked at the fire. He knew red fire stood for something and that something specific used red fire but he could quite remember what it was.

* * *

**Naruto and Azula**

"Huuah" both Naruto and Azula shouted out as they each threw fireball after fireball at each other each one hitting and creating a small explosion. It was then that Azula jumped in the air and kicked a long fire whip from her feet at Naruto.

Naruto had seen it coming and spread his arms out before he threw his hands together making a clap which created a rather large wall of fire rise in front of him and successfully stopping the Azula's fire.

"Darn his red fire is just as strong as my blue fire" Azula thought as she landed back onto the ground with cat like grace before getting back in her stance.

She fired a set of fireballs from her fists only for Naruto to dodge each one before he then sent a spiral of fire shooting towards Azula.

However Azula managed to skilfully dodge the red fire and got close enough to Naruto for the pair to start fighting in close combat.

Both were throwing punches and kicks that had small embers shoot out of their hands and feet as the impact was either blocked or dodged.

The heat from the previous fireball that were thrown as well as the small flickers of fire that shot out from each punch hand kick was slowly beginning to take its toll on both Naruto and Azula as sweat.

"Man what a workout" Naruto thought as Kurama was agreeing with him.

Meanwhile Azula watched in awe as Naruto managed to get back up again from the kick she gave him. "He is a lot harder to put down. I like that" she thought as she and Naruto charged towards each other both using their fire against one another.

Many on the sideline were amazed at how strong these to kids were and it really put many for the guards and other firebenders to shame. Sozin had a looked on in impressed at how far his granddaughter had come.

While Lo and Li were amazed at how well Naruto was handling Azula, when they looked at said girl they had a look of shock appear on their faces when they saw the look on Azula face. Usually she had either an emotionless face or an angry face which helped fuel her firebending but what surprised them was that she had neither of these looks. Instead she was smiling and laughing. If they had to guess they would have sworn that Azula was actually having fun.

Naruto was in the same state. He was giggling as the two fought and had a big smile on his face.

"I think I have found some common ground with Azula" he thought.

"_**This is what I like to see. Two firebenders simply having fun with their element."**_

As the two continued to battle Azula saw Naruto legs were wide apart and a smirk came to her face.

She interlaced her legs into Naruto's and used his own weight against him and made him trip over and fall on his back. She landed on top of him and had one of her fists in front of his face.

"Looks like I win Whiskers" she said proudly. Naruto groaned at first but then chuckled confusing Azula.

"You really are a great firebender Azula. That was a great match" he said making a true smile appear on Azula's face.

"Well you were pretty good yourself and I don;t praise many people" she said causing Naruto to smile even wider at the praise.

"He he thanks" he said scratching his head.

"But I'll win next time" he said.

"We will see" Azula said before the two heard clapping from all around them. Through all the fighting neither had noticed a small crowd had formed around them.

"Most impressive granddaughter" a voice said which made both children turn around and both bow when Fire Lord Azulon. "I can see you becoming a great firebending Master one day."

"Thank you grandfather" Azula said happy at the praise.

"And you boy" Azulon said looking down at Naruto. "I must say for a commoner you have a lot of skill. To go toe to toe with my granddaughter who is a firebending prodigy is no easy feat no matter how young she may be. Plus your ability of red fire has intrigued me greatly."

"Thank you Fire Lord Azulon " Naruto said still bowing and talking as politely as he could.

"Tell me you help around the palace correct?" he asked getting a nod from Naruto. "Well then when your chores around the palace are finished you will train with Azula in firebending. You will be Azula regular firebending partner and will help her grow stronger."

"Y-Yes Fire Lord Azulon" Naruto said again not quite believing what just happened as well was Azula and the twins Lo and Li.

"Very good" the Fire Lord said before he turned around and headed back towards the palace leaving the four slightly stunned.

"Urm wow" Naruto said aloud making Azula and the twins nod in agreement.

"So Azula" he said looking towards Azula. "Your training done now?" He asked getting a groan from Azula and small laughter form Lo and Li.

"This young man could be good for Azula" they both thought remembering the smile on her face when they fought.

"Yes I'm done and yes before you ask we can hang out if you like" she said getting a big smile from Naruto. "But I need to get changed first. Our battle slightly charred my clothes" she said as she walked away towards her room.

"Wait outside my room. I will be out in around ten minutes" she said the two walked over and arrived at her room with Azula entering and Naruto hanging back next to the door.

"So how did I do?" Naruto asked Kurama from within the seal.

"_**Not bad kid. You have come a long way in six months. Despite being beaten it was a very narrow match and could have gone either way. You are making good progress. She has a bit ore experience and training then you do since she had been firebending longer then you but overall you did well."**_

"Thanks" Naruto said before it went silent. After about ten minutes Azula came out in fresh new clothes and stood in front of Naruto.

"I was thinking of heading into the city after my training so can come along if you wish" she said getting a grin from Naruto who immediately agreed.

The two headed down towards the front gate where a couple of guards were waiting and all nodded towards the pair before they all exited the palace grounds.

As they walked down the streets many bowed as Azula passed and were glancing at the princess of Fire Nation. Many even looked at Naruto, amazed that the princess would allow a commoner to walk along side her.

For the next few hours Azula and Naruto walked around the capital with the guard and went from shop to shop looking at books, firebending scrolls, clothes and more. As Naruto looked around the current street they were on he noticed Azula standing in front of a store that looked like it made children's toys, more specifically girl's dolls. He walked over and stood next to Azula who he noticed had a bit of a scowl on her face.

"You okay Azula?" he said making her jump slightly.

"I'm fine and don't sneak up on me or I will roast you alive" she warned.

"Got it, got it" he said waving his hands in front of him. "But why were you scowling at these dolls? They look pretty well made."

Azula huffed. "I hate dolls in general. Their stupid and I don't understand why girls like them so much. The reason I'm annoyed is because a few days ago my family got a letter from my uncle Iroh updating us on how well the siege was going in Ba Sing Se. He sent gifts to myself and Zuko. All I got was some ridiculous Earth Kingdom doll while Zuko got a ceremonial knife."

"Well at least it was nice of him to send a presents. It's the thought that counts after all" Naruto reminded but was cut off by a large rumbling sound catching him of guard. He got in his firebending stance and looked around to see what it was.

"Azula what was that?" He said but stopped when he saw the look on Azula's face which was blushing tomato red. He had to put a hand over his mouth to stop from chuckling and quickly recomposed himself.

"Azula was that your stomach?" he asked. Azula bit her lip and looked away before she gave a slight nod.

"In that case I know where we can go eat. Follow me" he said taking Azula's hand and began to run. Azula at first was going to rip her hand away from him but stopped when she felt a warm tingling sensation run up her arm and across her body that made her feel good, so in the end she allowed it.

After five minutes of running which left a lot of people baffled when they saw Naruto holding hands with Azula, they arrived at a small stand. Azula looked at Naruto with a are you serious face but sighed and followed Naruto in where they took a seat on one of high stools.

They both began looking over the menu and Azula had to admit the food to sound pretty good and noticed they did a lot of ramen based foods.

"Good evening" a middle aged woman said walking towards the two before she stopped and saw Azula and the guards that stood behind her.

"Princess Azula" she said giving a small bow. "It's an honour to have you here."

"Thank you" Azula muttered rolling her eyes. It was the same everywhere she went, people bowing and sucking up. Azula went back towards the menu and asked "what do you recommend Naruto since you seemed so eager to come here?"

Naruto tapped his chin with his index finger before smiling brightly and saying"Miso ramen. It's the best and I guarantee you will like it" he said getting a shrug and handing over the menu to the waitress. "I'll have what he just said" Azula said.

"And I will have the same but in the biggest bowl you have" Naruto said getting an odd glance from Azula and a chuckle from the waitress.

"Don't worry Naruto, we know your order off by heart by now" she said before she walked away in to the backroom where the cooks were.

"So you have been here before?" Azula asked getting a nod from Naruto.

"Yeah I come here quite a lot. I love ramen and this place serves the best in the capitol" he said.

"So where has your mom and Zuko gone today? You mentioned they were out?"

When he mentioned Ursa and Zuko Azula scowled slightly and tightened her fist. "They went to the port for the day saying something about the latest goods from Earth Country being shipped in and Zuko got curious and asked to go down. Mother was more than happy to take him."

"_**I have a feeling the relationship between Azula and Ursa may be a little strained"**_ Kurama said observing the conversation from within the seal.

"Are you okay Azula?" Naruto asked in concern. "This might not be my place to say but is everything between you and your mom alright?" he asked getting a small angry scowl from Azula before it softened.

"I and mother don't exactly have a close relationship like she does with Zuko. Zuko has always mothers favourite and I have always been second best. I was meant to go away with Mai and Ty Lee and join their family for the weekend but father decided it would be a waste of time and that I should remain in the palace and practice my firebending.

"_**Her father seems to the controlling type. He could cause problems for her and Zuko in the future. Plus the strained relationship with her mother seems to be pushing her more towards her father."**_

"Is there anything we can do?" Naruto asked making the fox think.

"_**Repeat what I say to her"**_ he said getting an inward nod from Naruto

"Azula could I make a suggestion" Naruto said getting an odd look from Azula before she nodded. "Have you ever thought the reason your mother is so close to Zuko is because two are just much more alike than most realise. Zuko seems to take after his mother side more than he does his father so Lady Ursa and Zuko would therefore have lots of things in common."

"Have you ever thought the reason you and your mother have not got such a close relationship is because the two of you just haven't found any common ground. Maybe if you find something you could use it to better your relationship.

Azula sat that and listened to the words Naruto was saying and had a deep look of concentration on her face. What he said did make some sense. She and her father were close due to their fire bending abilities but perhaps if she found something more girly to do, perhaps it would improve her relationship with her mother. After all the person a daughter looks up to most in the world would be their mother.

"I will take that into consideration" Azula said making Naruto nod and give her a small smile.

"That was some good advice Kurama. Where did you come up with that?" Naruto asked.

"_**When you're the oldest of nine siblings you kind of need to know this stuff. You always get small arguments and fights so it's best to have some wise words that can penetrate their thick skulls."**_

Ten minutes later the waitress form earlier brought out their meals and placed it in front of the pair and hoped they enjoy their meals. Naruto and Azula both gave their thanks and separated their chopsticks.

Azula looked down at the miso ramen and had to admit she never had something quite like ramen before. But it was always healthy to try new things so she decided to give it a shot.

She took a slight breath before she took her first bite and when she did her eyes widened liked dinner plates. She had never tasted anything so good before. How had she not had this before she would never know but now she believed she found her new favourite meal.

Naruto looked up form his meal to see Azula's expression and inwardly chuckled. He had a feeling he just spread the greatness of ramen.

"So how do you like your meal?" Naruto asked as Azula began devouring the ramen at a quick pace that made everyone around her, even the guard look at her with slight disbelief. She blushed slightly in embarrassment before picking up a napkin and tapping her mouth with it.

"I-It was good" she said in a polite and steady tone.

"Well I'm glad you liked it" he said before he too began shovelling his ramen down just as quickly as Azula did.

When they finished they gave their thanks, paid the bill which Naruto had paid despite Azula saying she was happy to pay for the meal since she was royalty and rich. But Naruto just told her that he took her here and therefore he should pay. Azula let a small smile slip as she actually enjoyed not always being treated like a princess and just like everyone else. It was different but good different.

As they made their way back and arrived at the palace gates Azula turned around to him and gave him a very quick and brief hug which surprised him but he happily gave her a quick hug back.

"I just want to say thank you for today Whiskers. It was enjoyable. I hope you ready for firebending training because I won't go easy on you" Azula said giving him another small smile before she went through the gates and the gates then closed behind her.

Once the giant gates closed Naruto had a huge smile on his face, knowing that Azula now considered himself a friend.

"_**Good job Kid. Not bad at all**_" Kurama applauded from the seal.

"Some things just take longer than other I guess" Naruto said before he turned around and headed back home.

* * *

**With Azula**

Azula slowly walked through the empty halls of the palace as she headed toward her bedroom. Today was a good day and she had to admit the blonde haired enigma that was Naruto had both surprised her and made her feel happy all day. She could see why Ty Lee had a crush on him. He was a good person who made those around him happy.

As she neared her bedroom she saw her brother Zuko walk past her who gave her a simple nod. She was about to nod before a thought came to mind.

"Zuko do you know where mother is?" she asked making Zuko stop and look at her intently.

"She is in her and fathers bedroom. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Thank you" she said before she began walking in that direction.

"Sure" Zuko said however before he started walking he stopped and turned to reveal a confused look on his face.

"Did she just thank me?"

It only took a few minutes before Azula found herself standing outside her mother and father room. She took a deep breath before she lightly knocked against the door.

It only took a few second before she heard her mother say come in.

Azula pushed the door open and saw her mother sitting on the bed with a book in her hands and when Ursa saw Azula she seemed slightly surprised.

"Hello Azula" Ursa said politely as she put her book down and walked over to her daughter. "Is there something you need?"

Azula took another deep breath. She wasn't sure what there was that both of them could enjoy. Azula had always been a bit of a tomboy and wanted to a bit more girly. So for this one time she pushed pride she got from her father and asked her mother one simple question.

"Can you teach me how to wear makeup" she asked.

To say she was shocked would be an understatement. Ursa face was completely surprised and even had her jaw slightly open. Azula had never come to her with something like this before and she never expected her too. She was a lot like Ozai in many ways but she never saw this coming.

She quickly shook her head before she noticed Azula get a downcast loo on her face.

"If you don't want to then it's okay. I understand if-"

Azula never got to finish before Ursa wrapped her in a warm hug. She even let a few stray tear falls since this was a step forward for the mother and daughter.

"Of course I will teach you. I would love to" Ursa said getting a swell of happiness go through Azula that made her face light up with happiness before she too embraced her mother.

For the few hours the mother and daughter pair spend playing around with makeup and jewellery that made Azula for once enjoy the time she spend with her mother and could feel herself getting closer to her.

Anyone who passed by the room would have been able to hear the soft giggles that escaped from the two and could only make them smile at hearing the laughter between mother and daughter.

* * *

**Chapter 4 Completed**

**Just to remind people the paring is Naruto/Ty Lee. This chapter focuses on the growing friendship between Naruto and Azula.**

**Thanks for reading and please REVIEW :)**


	5. Times Are Changing

Chapter 5

**Four months later**

"Come on Naruto. Is that all you got" Azula shouted as she wiped sweat of from her forehead as she stood face to face with Naruto in another one of their insane fire bending sparing matches.

The reason they were regarded as insane was because many found if you were within 50 metres of the two, then you were going to get burned. Lo and Li found that out the hard way when the two got far too close for the blonde and raven haired girl and promptly got burned. Since then they decided it was best to watch from a small balcony when the two went at it just to be on the safe side.

When Ty Lee and the other found out there was various reactions. Zuko was happy that his friend could fire bend but a little jealous that he could go toe to toe with Azula and that his fire was a different colour just like Azula's. Mai didn't really care and just gave him a slow clap and that was that.

But when he told Ty Lee he got both a hug and a playful slap on the arm. She was not happy that he kept it a secret from her and told him next time he kept something like that secret from her she would beat him up. Naruto chuckled at that since he was keeping the secret of the fur ball that was sealed away in his gut. He dreaded what would happen then.

However since Naruto began sparing with Azula the others all began to take an interest in learning how to defend themselves and how to use different forms of fighting.

Zuko began to pay attention to swordsmanship along with his fire bending studies and would now practise how to use a sword in his spare time. He had shown himself to be a very capable swordsman not that Ozai payed any attention to it.

Mai began to learn how to use weapons, mainly knives. Many found it a little odd that she wanted to do it and thought that she would have little luck in mastering it. But after only a few months she began to show them how wrong they were. She was a natural with any sharp object and you did not want to be near her when she was angry.

Finally Ty Lee decided to learn hand to hand combat, mainly the form known as chi blocking. It was a scary and difficult form to master but with Ty Lee's great flexibility and balance it was the perfect form for her. She was quick learner and quickly showing signs of being very formidable when she got older. She would essentially become a element benders worst nightmare with her ability to shut of the chi points and thus rendering them unable to bend.

"I got you now" Naruto shouted as he sent a large fireball towards Azula only for it to be met by one of Azula's. The blast made a small shockwave that knocked the two of their feet.

The two groaned before they managed to sit up and look at each other.

"A draw?" Naruto asked.

"A draw" Azula responded back and nodded her head. Naruto got up and put his hand out to Azula to help her up to which she accepted. The two had become good friends in their time sparing and Azula felt no pulse of superiority over Naruto since he had proven how strong he was with his firebending.

"That was amazing" Ty Lee said as she came bouncing over towards them with the rest in two.

"Yeah that was pretty good. At this rate Naruto might just beat Azula soon" Zuko said getting a glare from his sister directed at him.

"Shut up Zu Zu. He is not the only one getting stronger" Azula said crossing her arms while Naruto and Ty Lee tried to hold back their giggles and Mai rolling her eyes at the sibling bickering. It was moments like this she was glad she was an only child.

"Don't call me that" Zuko said making his face gored like a tomato. The two were about to go at it like they usually would before the elderly twins arrived at the scene.

"Now now children that's enough bickering" Lo and Li said together causing the brother and sister to huff and look away. Your training went well today Azula. You will make a great Firebending master.

They then turned their head towards Naruto. "Well done to you too Naruto. You are catching up quickly and we can safely say you and Azula are about tied in strength.

"Thank you sensei's" Naruto said giving the two women a respectful bow to which they both bowed back happily.

"Your training is done for today. Go and enjoy the rest of the day" they said before the two walked off.

"Woo fun day" Ty Lee shouted throwing her arms in the air. "What do you guys want to do?"

"Well as much as I would like to join you guys I actually have to head home. I have some homework that really needs to get done. If I don't get it done soon then mo will chew me out" Naruto said getting downcast looks form the others.

"Awwww" Ty Lee moaned out load. "But I thought we could have lots of fun today. We have been training so much that we haven't had much time to have fun."

"I'm sorry Ty Lee. Maybe next time" he said.

"What is the homework?" Mai asked raising an eyebrow and wanting to know why Naruto blowing them off for homework.

"We have to do a two page essay on a topic of our choice. As you can expect most people in my class are doing an essay of firebending or on the fire nation in general."

"I guess then you're not?" Azula asked getting a nod from the blonde. "Then what are you doing?"

"Well I thought I might do my essay on one of the great spirits. Change it up a bit" he said getting curious and surprised looks from his friends.

"That certainly is different" Zuko asked. "Which one? Is it the moon spirit that's said to reside at the Northern Water Tribe?"

"No not that one. You might not have heard of it. It's a very old spirit that hasn't been seen in a very long time.

"We may have. What it called?" Ty Lee asked getting more and more curious about the blonde in front of her.

"Well it's called The Nine Tailed Fox."

The four looked at him with thinking glances. Naruto would not be surprise if none of them had heard of Kurama which he found out to be right.

"Can't say I have heard of that one" Zuko said.

"Me neither. You think I would no one by that name" Azula said before shrugging it off. "Oh well if we're going to go play lets go now before lunch."

"Right, see you later" Naruto he said giving him a wave. Azula gave him a wave while Mai just gave him a nod. While Ty Lee who was still a little down that Naruto would not be joining them gave him a hug and much to his surprise a quick peck to the cheek causing him to blush before she ran off to join the others.

"Woh" Naruto said holding the place on his cheek that Ty Lee kissed. The kiss send caused his cheek to tingle before a grin made its way to his face.

"_**Not bad brat. Look like the girl as a crush on you. Question is do you have like her too?"**_ Kurama asked form within the seal having watched everything that just happened.

"Yeah yeah" Naruto grumbled still processing the kiss to the cheek causing Kurama to snicker at Naruto.

The way home was pretty peaceful and it was not long until Naruto was outside his home.

"Mom I'm home" he called out.

"I'm in the kitchen" Lana shouted making Naruto to smile and head over. When he entered he saw Lana sitting at the kitchen table reading. She looked up and smiled and motioned for him to come over.

"How was your training session with Princess Azula?" She asked as she embraced him in a warm motherly hug.

"It was good. Lo and Li said were about even in power now so were drawing a lot in our spars."

"Wow well done. It's not easy to match a firebender of Azula's lineage. Its just shows that your hard work is paying off" she said getting a nod from Naruto. It truly did surprise her since those born in to the royal family were known to become powerful firebenders. The few generations of fire lords were proof of that.

"Once we were done we were going to go play for a little while with the others but I knew I had homework so I came home."

"I'm glad you remembered she said flicking the tip of his nose. Your studies are just as important as your firebending. So go on and get to it. That report won't write itself" she said in a stern motherly ton.

"Yes general" he said giving her a mock salute making Lana roll her eyes but smiling down at her son either way.

"Just let me know if you want anything and ill bring it up to you" she said as she got a thank you from Naruto as he headed to his room.

Once he was there he got out some pieces of lined paper and a pen while opening one of the books he got from the library. The book was old, very old. It looked like it had not been opened in years but it had lot of information regarding Kurama and the other great spirits. When Kurama asked why he just did not ask him for the information since asking the spirit himself was the best source you could ever get, Naruto just told him he needed to be careful.

The last thing he wanted was his teacher asking where he got the information from and no evidence to back his claims up.

Especially since he doubted his teacher would believe him when he told them that said spirit was sealed inside of him and that he even spoke to him on a daily basis.

As he looked through the book, Kurama to what reading what it said and was surprised how accurate the information was. The nine spirits were no secret to the world but they were the more mysterious of the great spirits since rarely anyone ever saw them, if at all.

* * *

**Royal Palace**

Azula, Zuko, Mai and Ty Lee sat together at the huge dining table in the grand hall as they ate their lunch it relative peace. They all had a pretty fun time playing and messing around but found that without Naruto things got boring pretty quickly. That and Naruto was not here to persuade Azula to try something new and play new games.

As they ate in peace Ozai, Ursa and Azulon all came into the great hall and joined the table with Azulon at the head of the table and Ursa and Ozai sitting together on his right.

Everyone quickly bowed to them before they went back to what they were doing.

"Afternoon children. How has your day been so far?" Ursa asked to which Zuko answered.

"It has been okay mother. Are training was over pretty quickly so we all decided to play for the rest of the morning.

"And how was training Azula? That blonde boy was not hindering your progress I hope" Ozai said. He was not very happy when he found out that Naruto had been chosen to be Azula's sparring partner. He at first fought against but when he found out Naruto had different coloured flames similar to Azula, he relented and allowed it. But everyone could clearly see he was not happy.

"It went great father. Naruto is a worthy adversary and enjoy sparing against him" Azula said making Ozai tsk noise which only Ursa had heard.

"That reminds me where is here. Did he not want to play with you all today?" Ursa asked curiously.

"No he said he had report from school he had to do so he went home. It sounded pretty interesting actually" Zuko said eating a bunch of grapes and peaking Ursa's curiosity even more.

"Oh and what is he doing his report on?" she asked as she looked at Ozai and Azulon who were just eating their food and not looking in anyone's direction.

"Well he was doing it on one of the great spirits but it's one we never heard before. I thought he was making it up but he said it was real apparently."

"He said it was called The Nine Tailed Fox" Azula said.

However when she said that for some reason everyone in the great hall, the soldiers, the servants and even Ursa, Ozai and Azulon was looking at her all with eyes slightly widened. It made her feel slightly uncomfortable. You could hear a pin drop form how quiet it was.

"H-How does he know about that?" Ursa asked. "Hardly anyone knows about the great fire spirit. I was only told about it once and that was when I was a little girl."

Even Ozai and Azulon were asking themselves that. The Nine Tailed fox was rarely talked about and how a young boy had found out about it was surprising and very unheard of.

"So its real?" Ty Lee asked getting a nod of confirmation form Ursa.

"Yes long ago the Nine Tailed fox was one of the nine great spirit siblings. From what my mother told me the fox was the strongest of the nine and was the spirit of fire. But then just over a hundred years ago, before the war started the great fox and its siblings just disappeared. No one has seen or heard from them since. Thats why it's so surprising to hear Naruto has heard of it. It's a lost spirit that is rarely spoken about these days.

Before Ursa could continue a Fire Nation soldiers walked in and headed towards the table. He bowed to everyone before he handed a scroll over to Azulon before walking back out.

Azulon opened the scroll and began reading it. Very quickly his face scowled as his eye followed the words on the page. He then put the scroll down and muttered "what a pity."

"What was it father?" Ozai asked raising one of his eyebrows.

"It was a message from Iroh. It seems Iroh's son Lu Ten has fallen in battle" he said getting shocked looks form Ursa and the children who could not believe what they heard.

"Cousin Lu Ten is dead" Zuko asked before getting a harsh look from Ozai but was quickly comforted by his mother who too was beginning to shed some tears. The girls looked downcast and kept their eyes on the ground.

"Also it seems Iroh grief from losing Lu Ten has made him decided to pull out of the siege and will be returning home."

"WHAT!?" Ozai shouted slamming his fist on the table. "What is that fool thinking? We need him to bring down Ba Sing Se. That is his missions and he is abandoning it."

"Ozai please" Ursa asked but got a look of fury from Ozai.

"I should have known my good for nothing brother would not have the stones to bring it down. He was always too soft. How he earned the title **Dragon of the West** is beyond me."

"Even so Iroh is coming home and he will be welcomes home with open arms despite his failure Azulon said standing up. Come its time I saw how Azula and your son are coming along in firebending."

Ozai stood up along with a reluctant Ursa as they made their way over to the main chambers. Head on home girls Ursa said to Mai and Ty Lee and got a nod from the two.

Azula quickly made her way over but Zuko walked at a slow pace not enjoying being called boy when his grandfather openly acknowledged he sister. He could only hope he had come far enough in his firebending to earn his grandfathers approval.

* * *

**Next day**

Naruto strolled quietly along into the palace ready for his chores around the palace. He separated with Lana when they got to the gate as she headed towards the kitchen and Naruto to his usual place in the laundry room.

As he walked towards the work room he spotted Azula walking down the hallways in front of him earning him a small smile and waved over towards her.

"Hey Azula" he called getting her attention.

"Oh hey Whiskers. Laundry duty again?" she asked getting a nod.

"Yeah pretty much. Hey what is wrong with everyone today? Everyone seems so down and miserable. Did something happen?" he asked.

Azula sighed. "Yeah it did she said startling Naruto. We got a message from our uncle Iroh yesterday. It seems our cousin Lu Ten was killed in battle and in his grief Iroh has decided to call off the siege at Ba Sing Se. They are coming home and should return by the end of the month."

"Oh" Naruto said not entirely sure what to say. "I'm very sorry to hear that" he said while giving Azula a small pat on the shoulder.

"Thanks but that's not the only thing that went a little wrong yesterday" she said intriguing Naruto more.

"Oh? What else happened?"

Azula bit her lip. "Well you see yesterday grandfather wanted to see how far along myself and Zuko were coming along in our firebending since those of the royal bloodline are supposed to be prodigies when it comes to firebending."

Naruto nodded his head having a small idea where this was heading.

"Well when I went up I showed him how far I have come since I started training with you. When I finished the demonstration grandfather was impressed and said I was a true firebending prodigy like no other and that I would make a great warrior one day."

"But then Zuko's turn came" she said making Naruto a little worried since she was not speaking in a very happy tone.

"It didn't go very well. He did manage to firebend but it was at such a week level that once he was finished father and grandfather started to belittle him. They started saying how much of a failure he was and began comparing Zuko and me. Zuko looked heartbroken hearing all the things they said. Mother has been trying to cheer him up but it really did a number on him.

When Azula finished she was surprised to see Naruto shaking slightly with anger and she could have sworn that for a brief second his eyes turned red.

"How can they be so heartless? He is their son and grandson. To they not see how special it is to have a family. They should be trying to support and help him not belittle him. Comparing him to Azula is the worst thing they could have done."

Kurama meanwhile was nodding his head in agreement. The Fire Nation in his mind had truly fallen from grace. Not only did they treat the other nation like, but they even treated each other as dirt. How should a nation like Fire Nation attempt to rule the world when they can even stay together and act like a family? Kurama knew sooner or later the Fire Nation was going to have one hell of a wakeup call that would either save them or destroy them.

Azula to was a little conflicted. While her and Zuko did fight and argue quite often he was still her older brother. To see Zuko get belittled like that by their own father and grandfather was too hard even for her to watch. She just stared at the floor not meeting anyone's gaze when it happened. But it's what she heard her father and grandfather talking about when everyone left that caused shock to ruin all the way through her body.

"Well their not much we can really do about it" Azula said making Naruto snap out of his angry gaze. "We can only hope that Zuko starts to improve with his firebending otherwise there is going to be trouble and Zuko won't come out of it lightly" she said getting a small nod of agreement from Naruto before she continued to walk off down the hallway.

"See you later Whiskers" she said before disappearing.

"Yeah see you later" he said before walking off to complete his chores.

* * *

**Later on in the day**

Naruto swept the sweat of his forehead as he watered the plants in the gardens. The day had been scotching hot all day and despite being a firebender, the heat was beginning to get to him. He was not the only one complaining though.

All the soldiers in their metal uniforms were pretty much on the ground from the heat. Lana warned him that sometimes Fire Nation got crazy hot weather that made you feel like you were in a sauna but he never imagined this.

Even Kurama who was inside the seal was a tad hot but he just had him giant nine tails to fan himself.

"**Ahh such nice cool air when I fan myself. Would you- Oh wait never mind"** Kurama said chuckling within the seal.

"Shut up fir ball" Naruto cursed inside his mind. The two may be friends but the giant fox loved to tease the blonde boy.

"I see your doing some good work" a voiced making Naruto turn around and smile to see Lady Ursa standing behind him with a class of lemonade.

"Here I think you could use this" she said passing the glass over which Naruto happily accepted. H e quickly chugged the drink down before letting out a satisfying breath.

"That was great, I really needed that" Naruto said a small giggle from the First Lady of Fire Nation.

"You're welcome" she said before she rubbed her eyes. It was then that Naruto noticed the bags under her eyes and she was slightly paler then she usually was.

"Lady Ursa, are you okay?" He asked with a slight frown.

"Oh urm yes I'm fine Naruto. I just did not sleep to well last night that all and its affecting me a bit today."

_**"She's lying**_" Kurama said from within the cage. _**"She can't look you in the eye and her whole body is shaking slightly. Something has obviously happened and whatever it is has her worried."**_

"Do you think it could be from what Azula told us? Zuko getting verbally ripped apart by Azulon and Ozai?"

_**"It's possible however I have a gut feeling it might be something much worse."**_

"Naruto are you okay?" Ursa said waving her hand in front of him and slightly worried seeing him space out.

"Huh oh sorry. I was in my own little world for a second there" Naruto said scratching the back of his head.

"Nothing new then" she said teasingly getting annoyed groan from Naruto. No matter what she always loved to tease the young blonde boy.

"So are you sure you're okay?" Naruto asked again hoping to get a hold of any new information from her.

"Do not worry I am fine but thank you for your concern?" she said ruffling his hair before turning around and walking off. When she did the worried and slightly scared look appeared on her face while Naruto looked at her leaving form with a concerned look sketched all over his face.

* * *

**Later with Naruto and Lana**

As the day slowly came to an end Naruto and Lana sat around their kitchen dinner tale having their dinner. It had been a rough day with the intense heat wave which had caused many to faint from the excessive heat. However now the night came in the air had thankfully cooled, letting a nice cool breeze make its way around the capital causing many to sigh in delight.

"So did you hear about Prince Iroh?" Naruto asked trying to strike a conversation with his adoptive mother.

Lana however looked down and nodded sadly. "Yes we all heard about his son's demise. Such a tragedy. He was so young and I know exactly how Prince Iroh must be feeling" she said as she looked over the room to the picture of her deceased son as she sniffled and tears threatened to pool out.

Naruto got up from his seat and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. Her son had always been a touchy subject and he didn't want to push her to tell him about what he was like. But he could tell that he meant the world to Lana just from the looks she had when she lloked at his picture or spoke about him.

"Oh I'm sorry" she said wiping her tears away. "Just hearing about Prince Iroh losing his only child made me remember" she said getting a nod of understanding form Naruto and even Kurama. Losing a child was always the worst thing to happen to a parent.

"I know you miss him mom but I'm here now. Even though I know I will never take your sons place which I have no intention of ever doing, I still love you because you're the closest person I have to a mom."

Lana listened to Naruto and sniffled loudly. Ever since the young blonde had come into her life it had improved so amazingly that it really did feel like she had her son back in the way. They both had that mischievous smile when they were about to do a prank or had the same puppy dog look that always managed to break her.

"I-Thank you my son" she said as she hugged him and settled her head on top of his.

The two stayed like that for some time before they began to move and put their dishes away from the dinner that had gone slightly cold. After that the talked about how their days were before deciding to call it a night.

Little did they know something big was currently happening that would change Fire Nation forever.

* * *

**Middle of the Night**

Both Naruto and Lana awoke from the sound of loud knocking coming from the front door of their house. It was Lana who made her way down the stairs first after she put her robe on.

When she opened the door her eyes widened when she saw Lady Ursa standing there wearing a large dark cloak that could very easily hide her in the dark.

"M-M Lady w-what are young d-doing here?" Lana asked stuttering after standing aside and letting Ursa enter their home.

Ursa looked around the small home before smiling at how cosy and comfortable the palace made her feel. Far more relaxing then what she got from the palace.

"I'm sorry for waking you up but I must see Naruto. It is urgent" she said getting a wide eyed look from Ursa before they heard footsteps coming down from the stairs and saw Naruto standing their rubbing his eyes.

"Lady Ursa, what are you doing here?" he said sleepily doing his best not to yawn.

Ursa smiled at Naruto and walked over towards him. She bent down to his height and embraced him in a hug getting a shocked look from both Naruto and Lana.

"Naruto" she whispered into his ear. "This may seem sudden by I need you to promise that you will stay friends with Azula and Zuko and watch over them for me. I don't trust Ozai with my children and I know he will try to get to them and warp their minds. Please stay friends with them and try to help them have a somewhat normal childhood."

"Lady Ursa what do you-"

"Promise me Naruto. Please" she said with a pleading voice that Naruto had never heard from her before.

"I-I promise Lady Ursa" he said.

When she said he would a quick look of relief made its way to Ursa's face before she quick gathered herself together.

"Thank you Naruto. Thank you so much" she said as she kissed his forehead further stunning everyone in the room.

"I am honoured to have known you Naruto and I hope that one day we can meet again. For now take care of yourself, help the others and admit you have a crush on Ty Lee."

"L-Lady Ursa" Naruto babbled blushing getting a small laugh from Ursa.

"I will miss teasing you too" she said before she got up and walked over to Lana.

"Thank you for all your services Lana. I'm proud to be able to call you a friend" she said before Ursa walked towards the door and stepped out. Then just like that she was gone.

The mother and son duo was not sure what to say. Lady Ursa just came into their homes, asked Naruto to remain friends with Azula and Zuko and then taken off saying hopefully she would see them again one day.

"I don't like this Kurama. Something must have happened."

"_**I agree however I doubt we will find anything out until morning. For now go back to sleep and we worry about this event then."**_

Naruto nodded in agreement. Let's go back to bed mom he said pulling on Lana sleeve knocking her out of her trance.

"R-Right" she said as she headed back for bed. Though neither would be able to sleep properly with what just happened.

* * *

**Next Morning**

Naruto we have to be at the palace in fifteen minutes. Let's go Lana shouted from down stairs and Naruto made his way down the stairs.

The words Ursa had said to him before she left his house were still ringing in his head and once he got to the palace he hoped he would find some answers to her strange request.

Just as Naruto and Lana opened the door they were surprised to see a fire nation soldier standing there about to knock.

"Ahh Lana and Naruto I presume" he said getting a nod from the two.

"I have come to inform you both that you won't be needed that the palace for the rest of the week" he said getting looks of surprise from the two.

"May we ask why" Lana asked voice the curiosity of herself, Naruto and Kurama who was listening from within the seal.

"Last night Fire Lord Azulon had passed away. He was found dead some time during the night by Prince Ozai. Also Lady Ursa was exiled from Fire Nation last night for reasons that have not be shared.

When the guard finished speaking Naruto, Lana and Kurama were lost for words. Naruto and Kurama now kind of understood why she came to them last night while Lana could not believe what she had heard. The Fire lord was dead and the first Lady of Fire Nation was exiled.

"Tomorrow the two of you must be gathered outside the palace with all the other citizens of the capital for the coronation."

"Coronation for what?" Naruto asked before the guard looked at him.

"The coronation for Prince Ozai becoming Fire Lord Ozai."

The next day Naruto stood outside the palace with Lana and all the other citizens of the capital as they crowded around the walls of the palace. They could not see what was happening but they all knew what was happening. Ozai was being crowned Fire Lord.

Naruto and Kurama did not know how the weasel had convinced Azulon to pass the torch of Fire Lord to him when it should have gone to Iroh but whatever method he used, it work.

With Ozai as Fire Lord Naruto, Kurama, Lana and even all the people of Fire Nation now new the war that they wanted to be over was only going to get worse. Ozai was just like previous two fire lord.

He was ruthless and unforgiving.

He had not seen Zuko, Azula, Mai or Ty Lee since he finished practise days ago. They were most likely mourning the pass of Azulon but he now knew that with Ursa gone and Ozai as Fire Lord he was not going to get to see hem as much.

The noble families were all in the palace most likely watching the crowning of Ozai with Azula and Zuko watching close by.

But both Naruto and Kurama knew that they're going to be some very dark days ahead.

* * *

**Chapter Five Complete**

**The next chapter will be a big time skip and will show Naruto's last few days in Fire Nation before he leaves. That may span either one or two chapters. Im not sure yet but after that it will start with Naruto meeting Team Avatar.**

**Thanks for reading and please REVIEW**


	6. Sharing A Secret

Chapter 6

Five Years Later

Naruto open his eyes as he looked out of his window towards the busy streets of the Fire Nation capital. It was the early morning rush as everyone went about their day heading towards their jobs or off to see their friends.

The now fourteen year old Naruto got out of bed and stretched as high as he could as he heard his bones crack. He now stood as a relatively tall five foot four for his age, just two inches taller than Zuko. His built was muscular but lean showing he could wield both physical strength and speed from the last five years of training.

He got dressed into a black coloured top that had a long sleeve on one side and but no sleeve on the other leaving his entire right arm bare. He wore dark grey trousers along with black combat boots. On his hands he wore black coloured gloves that had his fingers exposed.

He walked down the stairs and saw Lana in the kitchen as always. She had not changed all that much other than a gray hair or two but other than that she looked the same as she did when Naruto first met here.

"Morning mom" he said greeting her getting a warm smile back from her and her embracing him in a hug. They were now the same height and she would now place her head on her sons shoulder. She kissed his forehead before getting back to what she was doing.

"When do you have your fire bending training?"

"In fifteen minutes so I'm heading of right now" he said getting a frown of disapproval form Lana.

"Young man you need a good breakfast to start the day otherwise you will be running on empty."

"I'll be fine" he said quickly taking a piece of toast from the side and kissing his mother on the cheek.

"I'll see you later" he said before running out the house toast in his mouth.

As he ran down the street he gave a wave to the market traders and continued on towards the training ground.

He was worried about his fire bending at first since unfortunately Ozai put a stop to him training with Azula and was concerned that he would begin to fall behind. However His firebending had greatly improved which was mainly all thanks to his new fire bending teacher the Dragon of the West Prince Iroh.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_Naruto walked down the cobbled path leading out of the Royal palace. He had arrived just like he normally would all set and ready to train and spar with Azula in fire bending only to be met by two guards standing at the entrance of the training field._

_When he had asked to go in and star his training neither one of the guards moved before one of them asked whether his name was Naruto Uzumaki. Apparently new guards had been set around the palace ground since most of the guard knew who Naruto was._

_When he said he was the guards told him that Fire Lord Ozai has declared that from now on Azula will be training solely on her own with Lo and Li and Naruto will not be joining them._

_He did try to fight against it at first but when he saw the guards were not budging and Kurama telling him once the Fire Lord made a decree it was pretty much set in stone. So reluctantly he left._

"_**Don't worry kid. We will just have to make do on our own for now until we can find someone to help you. Like is said before I can only do so much from within the seal"**__ Kurama said trying to raise Naruto's spirit._

_As Naruto walked down the path he wasn't watching where he was going and accidently collided with someone which knocked Naruto down onto his butt._

"_Ouch" Naruto groaned as he rubbed his behind. "Sorry about that. I was not watching where I was going"_

_"That's quite all right young man" the voice said making Naruto look up. What he saw was an older man who was quiet short in stature with gray hair in a small ponytail at the back and a grey beard. He had a round belly and was wearing traditional fire bending armour._

_The man stuck out his hand to help Naruto up which Naruto took. After dusting himself of Naruto gave a small bow to him saying how sorry he was._

"_That's quite alright. May I know your name young man since I knocked you down?"_

"_I'm Naruto Uzumaki"_

_"Ahh so your Naruto. Well it's nice to meet you. Your mother Lana speaks about you often he said with a cheery voice. My name is Iroh."_

_Hearing the name Iroh made Naruto have to balance himself. Standing in front of him was none other then Ozia's older brother and the famed Dragon of the West. One of the best fire benders around._

"_Lord Iroh I'm sorry for my rude actions" he said bowing but shot an eyebrow up when he heard Iroh laughing gently._

"_It's fine my boy and please just call me Iroh. Im not one for titles"_

"_If you don't mind me asking how do you know my mom?"_

"_Ah well I have known Lana ever since she first started working in the palace. I met her on her first day and unfortunately found her a little upset. When I asked what was the matter she told me she had messed up a few of her jobs and the nobles were rather angry with her. So I simply took her to the gardens and we had tea to help calm her down. Ever since then we have been good friends."_

"_She has been telling me a lot about you. She also tells me you are a fire bender."_

"_That's right" Naruto said forming fire in his right hand._

"_Red fire huh? I must say that is a first" he said observing the fire close. "It seems a lot stronger and more potent than regular fire."_

"_Yeah Lo and Li told me that when I sparred with Azula. They said its strength could match Azula's be flames."_

"_Hmm I see their point. I take it Lo and Li are your instructors"_

"_They were my instructors. I was suppose to train today but apparently Fire Lord Ozai no longer wants me sparring or training with Azula thinking I am just holding her back. He has never liked me from the beginning imply because I'm a commoner."_

"_Ahh yes that does sound like my brother" Iroh said sighing before his face took on a more chipper like look. "I can see the potential in you young Naruto but let me ask why do you firebend? Do you fire bend for power?"_

_Naruto shook his head. "I fire bend to protect those that are precious to me and to use my red flames to protect the innocent."_

_Iroh looked impressed at the answer. "Well then in that case meet me tomorrow at 9 o clock at this location" he said slipping out a small card and giving it to Naruto. "I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for practise Naruto" he said before walking away._

"_What just happened?" Naruto asked in a slightly stunned voice._

"_**Well its looks like the Dragon of the West has just taken you on as his student**__."_

_End Flashback_

* * *

Coming out of his thoughts Naruto found himself nearing the training ground he trained at with Iroh. The place was an old training ground their rarely got used so virtually no one ever went there. Some times Zuko would join or on very rare occasions Azula when she had the time but other than that it was usually just the two of them.

When he walked onto the training ground the area was like a giant field found inside a forest with the tree giving them cover. Just at the other end of the training field was a giant oak tree that stood taller than the rest of the trees. Underneath it was Iroh who was sat in a meditative position with a cup of tea settle in front of him

"Little early for tea isn't it sensei? "Naruto said bowing slightly with a smile plastered on his face.

Iroh looked up and let a similar smile cross his face. "It's never too early for tea my young student. Begin with the morning routines" he said getting a nod from Naruto who then stood in the centre of the field.

The morning routine consisted of Naruto doing one hundred pushes, one hundred squats and one hundred crunches. Iroh would tell him that keeping his body in shape helped to develop his fire bending and gave him stamina and endurance. Thought Iroh didn't exactly took his own words to heart since he was a little on the pudgy side.

It only took Naruto twenty minutes to complete it before he stood up with a few drips of sweat making their way down his forehead.

When Iroh saw that he was done he stood up and walked over to him. "Now then we shall continue from where we left off from the other day. We will practise the art of breathing fire, an advance technique of fire bending that very few have been able to master. Practice makes perfect after all" Iroh said.

"The art of breathing fire is an advanced form of fire bending and involves the user firebending out of his or her mouth, mixing air from the lungs with the flame, creating a wider, hotter blast. Like so" he said as Iroh looked away as he got in his fire bending stance.

He puffed out his chest and took a deep breath. He held it for a couple of seconds before he opened his mouth and blew out. When he did a long column of fire shot out of his mouth.

Naruto whistled as he looked at the path it left behind leaving grass beneath it slightly singed from the heat the ballast gave off.

Iroh stood up straight and dusted himself off before continuing his explanation. "With its wide, encompassing range, the technique of breathing fire allows for staving off multiple opponents and can also help with instantaneously warming the body even under frigid conditions. So if you are ever in bad conditions such as hale, rain or even in tundra like regions. It can help you warm the body and survive."

Naruto nodded keeping that little piece of information for any future use. "Now it's your turn" Iroh said as Naruto stood in the spot Iroh previously was and got in a fire bending stance.

"**Just follow the old man's instructions and do as he did**" Kurama instructed as he watched from within the seal.

Naruto breathed in slowly before he arched his back and took a long breath as he felt the air expand his lungs. He then added his fire bending and could feel his chest getting hotter and hotter. After a couple more seconds he exhaled.

When he did a column of red fire shot out through his mouth and enveloped the area in front of him. It was not as big or as hot as the blast Iroh had conjured but the look on Irons face showed that he was impressed. After all Iroh did have decades of experience while Naruto had only been fire bending for the last six years.

Once the fire died down Naruto took a few deep breaths as a few beads of sweat made its way down his face. That technique although powerful was very tiring and it would take a lot of practising and training to get to Iroh level where it would not affect him as much.

Iroh came up to him and patted him on the shoulder. "That was great my young apprentice. For someone of your age you have come far and have already begun to master an advance fire bending skill. You are a true prodigy just like my niece Azula."

Naruto scowled slightly when he heard the word prodigy. He hated the word. It made it sound like those who are prodigies are born to be naturally better than everyone else which is very far from the truth.

"I prefer a genius of hard work" Naruto said. "I didn't get this far from luck or my skills. If it was not for the people helping me and my own drive to train and practise most days I would not have got to where I am now."

"Hmm fair enough" he said as he admired the boy in front of him. While Naruto was good at firebending before he became Iroh's student he had flourished under Iroh's wing and was already becoming a very formidable warrior. He just wished his niece and nephew was more like that.

Azula had become obsessed with her training and strived to be the best and shot any one down when they tried to tell her otherwise. She even became a bit arrogant when it came to her firebending and became increasing hostile to those around her. The only people she had called her friends and was happy to be around was Ty Lee, Mai, Zuko surpsingly although it was mostly for teasing and Naruto.

Iroh knew that was caused it was Ursa's exile and disappearance. The mother and daughter were finally getting a long and their relationship was becoming healthy when Ursa had to leave. It caused Azula to become enraged and felt betrayed by her mother. The bridge that had been made between the two over the months was beginning to burn down.

However Zuko was in a different state. With his mother gone he felt like he always needed to prove himself to his father. Show him he was not a failure like his father thought of him. So Zuko delved into his studies and training with fire bending and swordsmanship.

While his swordsmanship training was going great and was proving to be a very formidable warrior wielding two swords he was still progressing slowly with Fire bending. Although he was better than he was it still was not quite the level that Naruto and Azula had both achieved even with his uncle Irohs help and guidance.

For the next two hours Naruto practised the fire breathing technique as Iroh watched and inspected each wave. The blast was slowly improving thought was not close to the level Irohs was yet but it was at a very decent level that Iroh gave him the okay to try something new.

"Now Naruto as you know certain powerful firebenders are able to generate and manipulate lightning by separating the yin and yang energies. Lightning, also known as 'the cold-blooded fire', is considered the most powerful firebending technique, and its use was available only to a select few firebending prodigies and masters. Before we go into lightning creation I want to show you a technique I created whilst observing the water benders."

Iroh then got into a stance and pointed his right hand out in front of him with his index fingers and middle finger being elongated. He then made fluid movements with his body before slowly dropping his right arm and raised the left at the same time.

"Do as I do Naruto" he said which Naruto complied and got in the stance and copied after Iroh. Form within the seal Kurama watched the movements trying to decipher what it was meant for and how it would benefit Naruto.

"With this fluid motion you have a technique I invented known as Lightning redirecting. Lightning redirection is a specialized technique within the art of firebending that allows a firebender to absorb lightning into their body as energy, and then release it in a more desirable direction."

"I want to teach you this before we move onto creating lightning. Lightning take years to fully master just like it does with fire bending. Therefore if you ever come across a firebender who tries to attack you and use lightning against you, you will have lightning redirection to counter it."

Naruto understood why Iroh was teaching him this. There were plenty of firebenders who very disliked Naruto. It was mainly the higher ups in the fire bending forces, more particularly a man by the name of Zhao.

He could not understand why the famed dragon of the west would want to teach a lowly commoner even with special re fire. Though Naruto saw him for what he really was this was being a royal kiss ass, always playing Mr Goody goody towards the Fire lord. In fact both Azula and Zuko hated the man as well, especially Zuko.

"Keep practising that form" Iroh said. "Once you master it you will be able to redirect lightning. But remember when it passes through you it goes through the arms into the stomach then out the other arm. If it flows anywhere else through the body it could have disastrous effects."

"Right" Naruto said and was about to continue before he was interrupted.

"NARUTOOOOOOO"

When he head the voice Naruto smiled brightly before turning around and catching a figure in pink that slammed into him and nearly knocked him off the ground and felt their arms wrap around him. He chuckled knowing full well who it was.

"Hey Ty Lee" he said as the girl smiled up at him brightly that caused a rush of warmth spread through him. She had grown a lot in the past five years and now her braided brown hair had gotten long to the point that it touched her lower back. She wore all pink clothes and her shirt stopped just above her belly button and wore red ballet type shoes.

However the one thing that Naruto did notice that a lot of the other boys noticed was that Ty Lee was a little more developed then most girls her age and was already beginning to show a curvy like figure. No doubt she was going to be a bombshell when she got older.

"I have missed you" she said as she hugged into his chest which Naruto happily gave back.

"We saw each other just two days ago" Ty Lee he said but he knew she was not quite listening.

"Jeez lovebird would you cut it out" Zuko said appearing with Mai and Ty Lee following close behind and causing Naruto and Ty Lee to separate with blushes on their faces while Iroh sat back under the tree and watched.

Zuko had been about the same size as Naruto and wore traditional fire bending clothes now like Azula did. His hair was in an only tail that went upwards into the air. Also recently Zuko had admitted to Naruto about having a little crush on Mai which he thought Mai was obliviously too but he was wrong.

Mai now wore noble fire nation battle robes that covered pretty much every inch of her. Her hair was tied up but let two long stands hang on each side. Her skills with anything sharp had increased greatly and many did their best not to piss her off. Also by the way she acted around Zuko Naruto knew she had a bit of a crush on the Fire Nation prince even thought she did a good job of hiding it.

Then there was Azula. She too wore traditional fire bending attire and she let her hair grow longer despite not knowing it since she kept it tied up almost all the time. She had light make up on her face but nothing too extensive but it already helped to increase her already good looking features.

"Training as usual I see Naruto" Azula said standing in front of her old sparring partner/friend/rival. She would never admit it but she valued Naruto's friendship a lot and it had been Naruto who helped her control her slight rage issues when her mother left.

"Of course, if I stop I run the risk of letting you overtake me" he said causing Azula to playfully glare at him.

"You want to put your money where your mouth is?" Azula asked lighting up her hand with blue fire.

"If that's what you want?" he said making red fire erupt in his hands.

"Woh I don't think so" Ty Lee and Zuko said waving their arms in front of them. "You two can spar another time. We have to go to the war meeting remember" he said causing Azula to put out her flames and look at him.

"Hmm I guess you're right. Our spar will have to wait Naruto. I hope you enjoy getting beaten like you did all those years" she said jabbing him in the ribs playfully making Naruto roll his eyes.

"What ever you say Azula. Now what's this meeting you are going too?" He asked.

"Ahh well father is having a big meeting with the other generals and captains and Uncle has agreed to let us join him in the hall. Although Uncle told us we must remain quiet and just listen and observe it still a big deal. It puts us in a good light with father so he can see how ready we are to serve the Fire Nation and bring what's best for it" Zuko said with an excited look on his face although Mai next to him was frowning a little more than usual.

"I see" Naruto said nodding but on the inside was not exactly happy with it. In the past five years with Ozai as Fire Lord the war had become even bloodier and many who weren't even soldiers were being forced to learn how to fight as they were pushed to fight for the Fire Nation.

He knew that in a couple of year's time when he hit sixteen he would most likely be forced to join despite being against Ozai and the war.

"Ahh yes thank you for reminding me. I guess I lost track of time. Time flies when you're having fun" Iroh said scratching the back of his head with a silly grin on his face causing other to chuckle while Mai and Azula just rolled their eyes.

"Come on lets go uncle" Zuko said taking Iroh by the arm before dragging him off. The older man laughed at his nephew's eagerness and gave Naruto a wave goodbye.

"See you around whiskers" Azula said before following while Mai followed after them and gave Naruto a small nod goodbye. That left Naruto and Ty Lee together alone in the field.

"So what d you want to do?" Naruto asked Ty Lee before a big grin appeared on her face. She tapped him square on the nose before saying "tag your it." She then ran and leaped into the air as she ran away from Naruto.

Naruto stood there for a few second before he ran after her. Hey that was cheating. Give me someone next time he said causing Ty Lee to giggle.

He chased after her but Ty Lee was incredibly fast and so hard to catch. With her sleek body, her speed and flexibility and her acrobatic skills it made her all but impossible to catch.

She leaped through the trees with Naruto hot on her trail while Kurama was in his head goading him to catch her already.

"_**Come on slowpoke. She's beating you AGAIN"**_

"Will you shut up. I'm trying here" he mentally shouted as he began getting closer and closer to Ty Lee. When he got close enough he outstretched his hand. His finger tips were only inches away from making contact to her shoulder before she suddenly leapt high into the air avoiding a branch.

Unfortunately Naruto did not see the branch until it was too late and collided with it and knocking him to the ground. He saw stars above his head while Kurama was laughing his ass off from within the seal.

"Shut up Kurama" he groaned before he heard mad giggling coming from his ride side and saw Ty Lee leaning down with her hand over her mouth giggling like a schoolgirl.

"Stop laughing" he whined. "It really hurt."

"Aww do you want me to kiss the boo boo" she said in kiddie tone.

"Hmm well I think it would make it feel better" he said causing Ty Lee to roll her eyes before giving him a quick peck on the forehead which made both blush.

Ty Lee then sat down next to Naruto as said blonde began to sat up and leaned against the tree he ran into and they sat in silence.

He looked over and saw her staring off into the tree's with a content smile on her face. She was his best friend and he honestly could not imagine his life without her. She didn't care about all that high class stuff and that he was from a common family. She valued his friendship more than anything.

But Naruto also had a big crush on Ty Lee and over the past five years that crush grew. At first he was not sure what it was since he never felt that way about another person before but after talking to Kurama and his mom Lana about it, both told him that he was obviously very much in love with Ty Lee.

Ty Lee felt the same way. Since she was the daughter of a nobleman many wouldn't go near her and boys who were also from noble families tried to impress her but she never gave them the time of day since in her eyes they couldn't match up to Naruto. Plus since she was one of seven sisters her own family only paid attention to her when they wanted. Spending time with Naruto and striking up a friendship with his mom eventually made Ty Lee come to love him back.

While she gazed at the scenery Naruto was making a big life changing decision.

"Hey Kurama" Naruto asked mentally getting Kurama's attention.

"_**Hmm?"**_

"I think it's time" he said confusing Kurama.

"_**What you talking about Gaki?" **_he asked opening one eyelid open slightly.

"I'm going to tell Ty Lee about you and where I come from" he said. Now the giant fox spirit was awake as his eye shot open.

"_**You sure about this? Once you tell her it won't ever be the same again. She may not look at you the same and what are you going to do if she blabs it to someone else who then ends up telling Ozai. They will be on a manhunt for us."**_

"No she won't say anything. I know she won't."

Kurama grumbled a little, probably not exactly as confident in Ty Lee as Naruto was. Though the girl did seem trustworthy he knew people could turn on others with just a flip of a switch.

"_**Very well. Put your hand on her forehead and ill do the rest"**_ he said getting a nod from Naruto.

When the conversation ended Naruto turned his head to Ty Lee. "Ty Lee" he called getting her attention as she turned to look at him. "There's something I want to show you and things about me you should know."

Now Ty Lee looked a little confused. "Do you trust me?" he asked.

"Naruto what"-

"Do you trust me Ty Lee? I need an answer."

Ty Lee looked at how focused his eyes were as they stared right in hers. "I-I trust you. Of course I trust you" she said before Naruto put his hand on her head.

"This may feel a little weird" he said almost immediately he felt Kurama pulling him and Ty Lee into the mindscape.

* * *

**Mindscape**

Ty Lee's eyes fluttered open as she found herself standing in what looked like a sewer with a giant cage door standing in front of her.

"Where are we?" she said before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped a little before calming down when she saw it was just Naruto.

"Naruto what's going on? Where are we?" she said obviously feeling uncomfortable where they were.

"I want you to meet a friend of mine. He will explain everything" he said before taking a deep breath.

"You might be caught a little off guard when you see him but know he won't her you and he is good, okay?" he said whispering into her ear. She looked at Naruto o a little tentatively before nodding.

"_**So we finally meet"**_ Kurama's voice said sounding out catching Ty Lee of guard. She looked over towards the cage and saw Kurama's giant red eyes staring at her. He then went to full height and Ty Lee's eyes widened at the sheer size of him.

"W-What are you?"

"_**I am Kurama, the great Nine Tailed Fox spirit and one of the nine lost spirits of old"**_ he said making realization hit Ty Lee that she was talking to one of the great spirits and not only that the great fire spirit that disappeared long ago.

"_**Tell me do you fear me young one?"**_ he asked his eyes looking right into hers which made Ty Lee flinch a little before he found a quick burst of confidence.

"No. Naruto said you were good and that you wouldn't hurt me. If he trusts you then I guess I can trust you too."

"_**Hmm"**_ Kurama said looking her over. Her jitters she had before were slowly disappearing and she was looking more curious then frightened.

"_**If I tell you mine and Naruto's stories will you, listen and not interrupt and sear that you will not tell another living soul about what you will hear. If you tell anyone in Fire Nation there could be catastrophic effects for myself and Naruto."**_

A little taken back by what the giant fox spirit said she looked over to Naruto who gave her a nod before accepting and swearing she would not tell a living soul.

So for the next hour Ty Lee listening patiently and paid closer attention to everything Kurama told her. That Naruto was form another world where he was mistreated, Kurama's past with his brothers and sisters, the origin to Naruto's red fire thought he didn't mention the fact that Naruto was capable of Air bending.

After what seemed like forever Kurama stopped and Ty Lee just stood their taking it all in. She glanced over at Naruto who was waiting for her reaction before she walked over towards him and stopped in front of him.

"Ty Lee" he asked getting no response form her before she punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow. What was that for?" Naruto said a little taken back.

She didn't answer before she began lightly punching Naruto all over his body. They didn't hurt but Naruto just kind of took it.

"You jerk. I thought you said there was going to be no secrets between us. Best friends are not supposed to keep secrets from each other."

"That's what she's mad about?" both Naruto and Kurama thought as Ty Lee continued to pummel away at Naruto.

After another minute she had finally stopped and now hugged Naruto around the waist. She murmured something into his chest which he couldn't quite make out. "What was that Ty Lee?" he asked.

"I said you're still the same Naruto. Nothing has changed" she said and a swell of relief went through Naruto when he heard those words. The last thing he wanted to happen was lose her friendship.

He took a deep breath before he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. "You don't know how happy I am to hear that."

Ty Lee smiled while Kurama watched happy to see their friendship was still intact.

As Naruto and Ty Lee began to part they both looked at each other and saw both were blushing and both were now staring at each other's eyes.

Ty Lee's breathing hitched a little when she saw Naruto beginning to lean in before she did the same.

"Now or never" Naruto thought as he inched closer and closer to Ty Lee before both closed their eyes and their lips then met in a feather light kiss that sent electricity run through their bodies. The kiss deepened and lasted for about half a minute before they broke off panting a little.

"Wow" Naruto said still blushing which Ty Lee quickly agreed with him on.

_**"If you're done sucking face can you go now"**_ Kurama said with his paw covering his eyes. _**"I'm trying to sleep and I don't need to here you too going at it."**_

Both Naruto and Ty Lee blushed up a storm. "Shut up you stupid fox" Naruto shouted before he felt himself and Ty Lee get pulled out of the mindscape.

When they were out they were in the same position from before so Naruto took his hand off of Ty Lee's head and the two glanced at each other before both lay down on the grass and just began to talk, mainly about everything Ty Lee had been told.

She frowned when she heard how he was treated over in his home world and began to despise the villagers of the leaf. When Naruto told her it's not worth getting angry over anymore she just gave him a peck on the lips. The kisses alone were enough to tell them both how they felt about each other though it may be a little while before those special three words are spoken.

It was later in the afternoon when Naruto decided to walk Ty Lee home and she made sure to loop her arm through his. Many of the public who saw them were smiling bright happy that the two were together while others shot him sad smiles which he didn't quite understand.

They also passed some members from a few nobles' families who were scowling at the fact that Ty Lee had her arm looped around his. There were only a few of the noble families didn't mind him, that being Ty Lee's except her mother who firmly believed that Ty Lee should be paying more attention to boys form noble families rather then Naruto and Mai's family.

"Here we are" he said standing outside Ty Lee's family gate.

"Thank you for today. Thank you for trusting me with this" she said as she snuggled into his chest.

"Well you're my best friend Ty Lee and one of the people I care about most in the world. If I can't trust you then who can I trust?"

Ty Lee just smiled brightly and stood on her tip toes and gave him another kiss on the lips. "Will I see you tomorrow?" she asked getting a nod from the blonde. "Good."

They parted and Ty Le went through the gates. When Ty Lee entered her house and went to her room she immediately jumped on the bed and squealed into a pillow at today's events and happy that she finally told Naruto her feeling and that he reciprocated them.

Naruto was not much better since the moment Ty Lee went through the gate he began doing a little celebration dance that caused Kurama to roll his eyes in his sleep somehow knowing Naruto was doing something stupid.

When he stopped he walk off leaving for his own home. However he get very far before a voice got his attention.

"It won't work you know" it said and Naruto looked over and was a little surprised to see Mai standing their leaning against the wall.

"What won't work?" he asked a little confused but Mai rolled her eyes. Kurama also opened an eyelid to listen in.

"You and Ty Lee. It will never be allowed. Myself, Zuko and Azula knew you two liked each other but were hoping it would pass. I see that it hasn't by you kissing her just now.

"Okay but I don't understand why it won't be allowed?" Naruto said before Mai sighed.

"Naruto what class of citizen are you?" she asked catching him a little of guard.

"Well I'm just a civilian since I'm from a civilian family."

"That's right. Now what kind of family does Ty Lee come from?"

"She is from a noble family" he said as gears in his head began working trying to figure out the meaning of these questions.

"Exactly" she said taking another deep breath as she strode forward towards him. "Naruto you have to understand Ty Lee is off noble birth and therefore she will be expected to marry someone who is also of noble birth or perhaps even into the royal bloodline. They won't allow her to be with someone who is just a civilian. Sure she can full around with you but nothing serious can ever come of it. The noble families and Fire Lord Ozai will never allow it."

Naruto felt like just falling to the ground. Just when he confessed to Ty Lee and thought that maybe they could be happy together, he was now being told nothing could ever come of it.

Mai seeing his downcast look patted his shoulder and gave him a quick hug surprising Naruto since she didn't normally show this much affection.

"Believe it or not Naruto I do value your friendship even if we don't talk that much or I may seem distant. I don't believe in nobles only marrying nobles and civilians marry civilians but there is not much else we can do about it. I'm telling you this because you deserve to know."

She moved away before she began walking away back to her home leaving Naruto standing there with new thought spiralling around his head.

"Hey fox did you know this?" he asked but for once Kurama was silent which meant he did.

Sighing and stumbling a little, Naruto moved forward and headed for home with new thoughts and confusion wrapping his head.

* * *

**Chapter six Completed**

**The next chapter will most likely be the last before another time skip. It will signal Naruto leaving Fire Nation and from then on it will be canon story line with Naruto meeting Team Avatar. They will meet just before the big battle at the Northern Water Tribe.**

**Also if you are also readers of Fairy Tails Lightning Shadow just know I w****ill update it soon. My main focus is my Percy Jackson/Naruto crossover at the moment but I will update Duel Bending Warrior and Lightning Shadow from time to time so don;t worry about having to wait for month long updates.**

**Thanks for reading and Please Review**


	7. Goodbye Fire, Hello World

Chapter Seven

**Next day**

Naruto lay in his bed as he stared up at the ceiling of his room as he had got virtually no sleep during the night. The comments Mai made after he left Ty Lee home still rang in his ear.

_"Naruto you have to understand Ty Lee is off noble birth and therefore she will be expected to marry someone who is also of noble birth or perhaps even into the royal bloodline. They won't allow her to be with someone who is just a civilian._

_The noble families and Fire Lord Ozai will never allow it."_

"It's just not fair" Naruto thought as he ran his hand through his hair.

"**_Try not to think about it gaki. The more you think about it the worse it will be."_**

"How can I not think about it? This is Ty Lee we are talking about. The girl I have had feeling for, for the last five years and now I know nothing can ever happen between us."

"**_Not everything is set in stone, you know that."_**

"But what can I do. I'm not of noble birth and you know as well as I do Ozai hates me."

Kurama was silent as he thought through the possibilities. He was right that Ozai did not like him, then again he didn't seem to like anyone besides his prized prodigy Azula. That was as clear as day and with that fact alone Kurama knew Ozai would d everything he could do stop Naruto from being together with Ty Lee. It showed just how cruel hearted and corrupt members of the royal family and Fire Nation as a whole had become since he disappeared from the world.

**_"Has it ever crossed your mind that perhaps it's times to leave the Fire Nation?"_** Kurama suggested surprising Naruto.

"What? What do you mean leave Fire Nation" Naruto said unsure why Kurama was suggesting it.

"**_I think you have forgotten that you don't just have the power to firebend remember. You can air bend as well."_**

Naruto blinked. The giant fox spirit was right and Naruto had forgotten about it completely. He had been so focused on his fire bending that he forgot that he had the ability to air bend as well.

"But where would I even be able to learn how to airbend?" Naruto asked. "Remember all the other air benders are gone thanks to the purges. There is no one left to teach me."

"**_Well you could try to find one of the air temples. From what I have heard from Iroh talking and the books you read the temples are still there, there just not inhabited anymore. There could be old scroll left there that are used for teaching airbending. Plus just because I'm a fire spirit does not mean I don't know the fundamentals of air bending. I have knowledge on how to do them despite my power being fire."_**

Naruto thought it over. Although he did want to learn how to air bend so that he would have more power to protect those precious to him, it would mean having to leave fire nation behind. He didn't want to leave the people he had grown close to here.

"I need some time to think about this. Lana, Ty Lee, Azula, Mai, Zuko, and Iroh here still here and I want to know how they would feel if I just up and left. I need to think this over. This is a big decision" he said.

"**_Very well. Think it over but eventually you will see that I am right"_** Kurama said before the link went quiet between the two.

Naruto sighed as all went quiet and sat up from his bed before getting up. He took a quick shower before getting dressed and headed down for breakfast.

Like always Lana was already there getting breakfast ready. Naruto slowly walked in and Lana noticed him sitting down. She was about to say good morning before she saw the downcast look on her sons face. He always had a smile on his face so seeing him look sad sent waves of worry to go through her.

"Naruto what's wrong?" she said coming up behind him and putting her hands on his shoulders.

"It's nothing" Naruto said not wanting to worry his mom but she didn't let it rest.

"No something is wrong and no son of mine will be going out of this house with a sad look on his face" Lana said as she sat in the chair and took her sons hands in her own. "What's the matter?"

Naruto looked at his mom and saw the worry in her face before eventually relenting. He couldn't keep things like this from her. I just didn't feel right to him after everything she's done for him.

"I told Ty Lee how I feel" he said surprising Lana. She had known about his crush on the noble girl and had a feeling that the feeling went both ways. However she knew as well that nothing could come of it.

"Well that's great. It's about time you told her. What did she say?"

"She feels the same way. But nothing can ever happen between us" he said sadly that caused Lana to realise that Naruto now knew that these feeling he had for Ty Lee were basically not allowed due to the difference in class.

"She is a noble and I'm a common citizen. It can't ever happen" he said as a stray tear made its way down his face.

"Oh sweetie" Lana said as she felt her heart break for her adopted son and she edged forward and brought him into a hug.

She rubbed his back in circles and could feel and sense small sobs coming from Naruto. Lana knew that Ty Lee was most likely his first love and no one ever got over their first love. Their first love is someone they always remember no matter how old a person gets.

"I know it's not fair. There's a person out there for everyone and you will find her someday" Lana said trying to comfort him but it didn't make much difference to Naruto.

"I know but whoever they are they are not Ty Lee" Naruto said getting a sigh from Lana.

As the two continued to hug there was a knock at the front door bringing them out of their musings. "I'll get it" Lana said as she left the kitchen and went to the front door.

Lana went to the door and opened it. She went a little wide eyed when she saw Ty Lee standing there with a big smile on her face.

"Hi Lana. Is Naruto in? Iroh wanted me to get him. He is needed with Iroh at the palace" she said surprising Lana before getting nod.

"I'll just get him."

"Don't worry I'm here" Naruto said appearing behind them. Ty Lee's smile went even wider as she jumped towards Naruto and pulled him into a hug. Naruto took a deep breath before he gave her a short hug back before quickly parting.

Ty Lee was a little put off with it but didn't say anything. He looked a little sadder then he normally did and she didn't like it when Naruto was sad. His smile was like the sun warming you up and a reflection of his bright yellow aura that just glowed with happiness.

Just give me a moment he said as he disappeared up stairs before coming back down a few minutes later with better looking clothes and his black boots on his feet.

"Alright let's go" he said as he gave Lana a hug goodbye before leaving with Ty Lee.

Naruto walked towards the palace with Ty Lee right next to his side. She tried to link her arms together but every time she tried Naruto would speed up his walking or would let his arms go limp stopping Ty Lee from joining their arms together.

Ty Lee was now frowning. Why was he acting like this? Their evening last night had been perfect in her eyes and she was sure it was in his as well.

Then that kiss was beyond words. It was feather light but it was just perfect. Her first kiss and it was with the boy she cared for and had feeling for her.

"Naruto what's wrong?"She asked touching his elbow but Naruto didn't act like the touch affected him when internally the touch sent shivers running up his back.

"I'm fine. Come on we better not keep Iroh waiting" he said giving her a quick smile before quickening his pace again.

"R-Right" she said not happy with this cold attitude that's just appeared out of nowhere. She didn't know much but she was going to get an explanation from him.

When she saw that smile he gave her she knew immediately it was a fake smile. He was not acting like the Naruto she had grown so close to and there person she thought as her best friend and as of last night, maybe even her boyfriend.

Kurama meanwhile in the seal was watching the exchange and sighed in annoyance. He knew exactly what Naruto was doing. Naruto was confused, didn't know what to do and was now trying not to act on his feelings with Ty Lee because he feels it's a reminder of what can't have with her.

**_"This won't end well"_** Kurama thought.

The rest of the walk was walked in silence as Naruto and Ty Lee eventually reached the palace where they were welcomed in by the guards.

As they walked along the path Naruto looked ahead and saw Iroh standing there with Mai and Azula by his side both their usual look on their face.

"Ahh Naruto I see you made it" Iroh said walking up to the duo and patting his apprentice on the shoulder.

"Morning Sensei" he said. "Morning Mai, Azula" he said getting nods form the two girls. Both girls then looked over and frowned when they saw the downcast look on Ty Lees face. That look didn't suit their friend since she was always happy and had a smile on her face. They then noticed that Naruto had the same kind of look on his face which suited him just as bad.

Mai quickly took note of what was happening while Azula and Iroh were trying to figure it out.

"What is going on?" Naruto asked. "I didn't think we had a training session today."

"We don't. You are here to see Zuko compete in an Agni Kai duel" he said surprising Naruto and Ty Lee.

"Agni Kai matches. Why? Who is he against?" Naruto asked in worry for his friend.

Iroh sighed. "During the war meeting yesterday one of the noble elders spoke about sending a battalion of troops to attack Ba Sing Se with the knowledge that they would be wiped out as soon as they appear. Zuko spoke out saying it was ridiculous and that Fire Nation should not waste their troops like that. Then an argument broke out and an Agni Kai matched was set up between Zuko and the elder."

"And father was not happy that Zuko spoke out of turn. If I know father he will have some kind of punishment waiting for Zuko" Azula said.

"Come we shall go and support Zuko in his Agni Kai Duel. He will need our support Iroh said getting a nod from Naruto. He wanted to support his friend. Zuko had improved in fire bending so he could pull it off.

The two headed off before Azula spoke up. "We will see you in there. We want to quickly talk with Ty Lee" Azula said as she and Mai took Ty Lee's hands and dragged her off.

Naruto and Iroh looked at each other before shrugging thinking girls were just being girls. Iroh led the way to the Agni Kai dueling chamber.

* * *

**With The Girls**

After a minute of waling the three girls found themselves in the royal garden where Azula and Mai sat their friend down and gave her an astern look.

"What's wrong Ty Lee? Your always happy an were not use to see you so sad. Did something happen with Naruto?" Azula asked.

Ty Lee was silent but the two girls were just going to stand there until they got an answer.

"I kissed Naruto last night" she said as the two girls got a look of surprise on their face. Well Azula did while Mai feigned one since she already knew.

"Well isn't that a good thing?" Azula asked. "Why are you so doom and gloom?" she asked not understanding since she knew Ty Lee was crazy over Naruto. So surely a kiss between the two would mean it was good thing.

"I was happy but Naruto was so different his morning. Like he was not happy and something has made him sad. He wasn't being himself to me" she said playing with her hair sadly.

While Azula just raised an eyebrow Mai caught onto the reason why Naruto was like this and mentally groaned.

"I think I understand?" she said rubbing her temple getting odd looks from the other two girls. "I saw your kiss last night and I talked with him as he left and I simply told him the truth" she said surprising Ty Lee.

"W-What did you say to him?" Ty Lee asked getting right up to Mai surprising her at how quickly she appeared.

"The truth is. That you two can't be together and that he should let you go" she said getting wide eyes from the two girls in disbelieve.

"W-WHAT!" Ty Lee shouted grasping Mai's shoulders. "Why did you tell him that?"

"He should know that a relationship between the two of you can't happen. You're of noble birth while Naruto is a commoner. It can never happen. Fire Lord Ozai would never allow it and neither will your family."

"B-But-"

"She's right Ty Lee" Azula said speaking up and looking down at now knowing why her friend was sad. "As much as I like whiskers being our friend, he can't ever be more than that. It's not allowed for him to be in a relationship who is of higher class while you can't date a commoner."

"But surely they can make exceptions?" Ty Lee said but both girls shook their heads.

"Rules are rules Ty Lee. You know that" Mai said as she and Azula got a downcast look appear on their faces.

"But this is Naruto. He is not like other commoners. He is an apprentice to Iroh. He has grown up with us and he has been there with us for years. We go round his house for dinner, we play together, and we train together. My parents like him."

"No Ty Lee your parents tolerate him because he is your friend. But if you were to tell them that you and Naruto are in a relationship then I can tell you now their immediate reaction would be for you to stop seeing him. Naruto can be your friend Ty Lee but that is all" Mai said.

"But what about Lady Ursa? She cared for Naruto as does Iroh" Ty Lee mentioned but did not see the dark look that appeared on Azula's face and Mai who had a surprisingly sad face.

Ty Lee sat back down on the bench and covered her face letting a few tears slip out. "This isn't fair" she sobbed out as her friends watched her cry.

Both Mai and Azula felt bad for their friend and sat down next to her and wrapped her in a hug. While the two girls were not known for being emotional, they felt bad for Ty Lee and both really did like Naruto and enjoyed his company. It was just a shame that the two could never really be together.

The three girls sat there for five minutes comforting their friend as Ty Lee let her tears out and how she could never be with the person she wanted to be with the most in the world.

Eventually they sat back up as Ty Lee wiped away her tears before they made their way to the dueling chamber.

* * *

**Agni Kai Dueling Chamber**

Iroh and Naruto entered the dueling chamber side by side as Naruto examined the giant room. The room was huge with the usual dark red paint on the walls with black, red and gold banners of the fire nation hanging up all around the walls. In the center was a giant dueling podium. Gathered all around the dueling stage were multiple members of the Fire Nation military and elders on the Fire Nation war council.

They all looked eager for the match to start. Zhao was also there and did no doubt want to see Zuko get put in his place. The dueling stage was full of multiple members of the Fire Nation military and elders on the Fire Nation war council.

Zhao looked over and saw Naruto walking alongside Iroh and scowled. "_What's that commoner doing here_" he uttered under his breath since he and the other high ranking officials did not approve of Iroh's tutelage to Naruto and did not like the blonde in general. He kept his opinion to himself though when he saw Iroh look over in his direction and give the man a stern glare. A glare that said _stay quiet and maybe I won't burn your ass_.

Naruto and Iroh took their places beside the stage and stood there in silence as others talked quietly.

A few minutes later the girls came in with Azula leading the way and Mai and Ty Lee following behind her. They stood beside Naruto and Iroh. Ty Lee looked at Naruto and saw his focus was only on the dueling stage.

However although Naruto was facing the stage his eyes were gazing at Ty Lee beside him.

"**You know pushing her away will only not only hurt you but it will also hurt her as well."**

"I know that. But we can't be together. It will never be allowed. And you know as well as I do that knowing Ty Lee she will just give up everything and be with me. I don't want her to make such a sacrifice."

"**Did you ever think that maybe she has a say in this as well. Maybe you are what she wants. Are you going to deny her that?"**

"STOP MAKING THIS HARDER THEN IT ALREADY IS" Naruto shouted mentally as he let a stray tear roll down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away and hoped no one saw it. He did not need to be told how hard it was because he hated being away from Ty Lee and not being able to act on his feeling for her was hurting him more than ever before.

However Ty Lee who was now standing next to him saw it and felt a wave of sadness hit her. This was just as hard for him as it was for her.

Right now she hated the laws and the social structure more than anything. How could the laws keep two people that care and love each other away like this? Did they not see that it just hurt people? If people loved each other then surely laws and rules like that could be worked around.

"It's starting" Azula muttered as everyone saw the light begin to dim in the room and the fires littered around the room began. The temperature increased in the room making many people sweat a little.

They heard footsteps and looked over to see Zuko wearing the traditional Agni Kai clothes and walking up the steps onto the dueling stage.

Zuko looked over and saw his friends and family and they all gave him a smile of good luck. Even Azula let a tiny smile appear on her face hoping that her brother could prove he was a decent fire bender and not the weak link like everyone made him out to be.

"So who is he up against?" Naruto asked Azula who stood in front of him.

"General Jakoa?" she said. He should be here any moment."

Naruto nodded and frowned when he scanned the room and saw the man he recognized as General Jakoa. However Naruto saw him wearing regular clothes just like everyone else in here. If he was here and not in the traditional Agni Kai clothes then who was Zuko supposed to fight against.

"But Jakoa is standing over there" Naruto said pointing out Jakoa to the others and making their eyes widen.

"What is he doing? He should be the one fighting" Azula said confused as was everyone else.

Naruto once again looked around and tried to figure out who was missing since he had a general knowledge of most of the higher ups in the Fire Nation military thanks to Iroh's tutelage. He saw all the generals were here, all the admirals were here. Everyone was here except for-

"Oh no" Naruto said as he figured out who Zuko's opponent was.

"What? Do you know who Zuko will be facing?" Mai asked as the others leaned in.

"Guys, where's Ozai?" Naruto said with a lump in his throat as the girls and Iroh all looked around and when they didn't spot him Ty Lee threw a hand to her mouth, Azula and Mai looked surprised and Iroh looked sad.

It was then that another pair of footsteps sounded out through the hall. Everyone looked over and Naruto's suspicions were confirmed.

Walking toward them in traditional Agni Kai clothes was none other than Fire Lord Ozai himself who had a stern look on his face. He stepped up onto the dueling stage and faced his son and oldest child who now had a look of fear and confusion on his face.

"F-Father what are you doing here?" Zuko stammered out.

Ozai sneered. "Why do you think boy. I am your opponent" he said getting small gasps erupt from the room.

"W-What but I-I can't fight you" Zuko said with even more nerves in his voice.

"You WILL fight me boy. You showed me disrespect during the war meeting. If you want to act like a man then you will fight to prove yourself as one. Show me that you have our blood running through your veins."

Ozai got in his stance and Zuko looked like he was about to to the same before he collapsed onto his knees.

"Father please I don't wish to fight you. Zuko managed to say before he let out a few tears. He was fully prepared to face whoever came his way but his father was a different matter.

He may not have had a great relationship with Ozai, but Ozai was still his father and he didn't want to fight him. He just wanted to prove himself to him.

"Do you dare defy your Fire Lord?" Ozai shouted in the silenced room catching many off guard with the ferocity in his voice.

"Please father forgive me" Zuko winced out before Ozai dropped out of his fire bending stance. Many seemed to relax. But they quickly stiffened again when Ozai bounded towards Zuko and grabbed Zuko by the throat.

Naruto who was watching by the side had his fists clenched and small wisps of red fire began circling round his hands reacting to his anger like firebending usually did.

"THAT'S HIS SON HE IS HURTING. HOW CAN HE HURT HIS OWN FAMILY" Naruto roared in his head.

"**_Kid calm down. Your letting your anger gets the better of you"_** Kurama said trying to reassure Naruto but it was falling on deaf ears.

Ty Lee who could feel the heat coming from Naruto saw his enraged look and began fearing the worse. "Oh god if he jumps in and gets involved who knows what Ozai will do to him" she thought before she circled her arms around Naruto hoping it would calm him down.

"Don't" she whispered in to his ear and placed a delicate kiss on his cheek which thankfully only Azula, Mai and Iroh saw. The kiss did seem to calm him down a little but the anger was still there.

"AHHHHHH"a scream sounded out through the hall as everyone looked over at Zuko and Ozai and saw Ozai had his hand engulfed in fire and had pressed it against Zuko's eye.

Everyone in the room winced even those who did not like Zuko. Iroh was looking at the ground sadly not wanting to see his nephew in pain, Azula was doing the same. Mai had a hand over her mouth as she let a few tears leak out of their eyes.

Ty Lee had her head buried in Naruto's chest not wanting to see what was happening to her friend while Naruto was growling and getting more angry by the second. He was struggling to keep his fire under control. Right now all he wanted was to rip Ozai a new one.

He detached from Ty Lee who looked at him before he slowly began walking towards Ozai staring right at the man with a look of rage and desire to deliver torment.

Ty Lee knowing exactly what he was about to do couldn't allow Naruto to get involved since it would be seen as treason. So from behind Naruto she used her martial arts skills and hit the pressure points over Naruto's body.

Naruto who was about to get on the stage suddenly felt his arms go numb and felt his entire body beginning to shut down as if his limb couldn't hear his brains commands anymore.

"What is happening?" he asked Kurama.

"**It seems like your little girlfriend knew what you were about to do. She is using her skills with pressure points to stop you from making a big mistake.**

"How is it a mistake? My friend is being hurt by his own father."

"**If you get involved you will not only be violating the Agni Kai rules but also it will be seen as treason against the Fire Lord. Do you want to have the entire Fire Nation after you, especially when there are so many admirals and strong fire benders in the room."**

Naruto would have argued back but he felt a swiftly placed chop against his neck making the world go black. The last thing he saw was Iroh with his hand out stretched looking on sadly and apologetically at Naruto.

Iroh too had seen Naruto about to make his way over. As Ty Lee hit his pressure points Iroh knocked him out before he looked at Ty Lee. Take him to one of my guest rooms he told Ty Lee as she slung Naruto's arm over her shoulders and quickly took him out of the room. Mai joined her in helping him since she could not bear to watch the display any longer.

Azula meanwhile just stood their stuck in her spot not really knowing what to do or what to feel. Should she feel angry at Zuko for not fighting or should she be angry at her father for hurting her brother.

* * *

**With Naruto**

Naruto slowly opened his eyes as he found himself lying on a very soft bed staring up at a very fancy ceiling. He guessed he must have been in a guest room since he knew the ceiling to his room was certainly not that fancy.

The last thing he remembered was that he was about to get on the stage and give Ozai a piece of his mind before he felt his body go numb and someone knock him out from behind.

"Ty Lee and Iroh" he muttered under his breath as he slowly sat up.

"I'm sorry" he heard next to him and looked over to see Ty Lee sitting on the side of the bed looking at him.

"Its okay" he said slowly getting of the bed making Ty Lee move as well. "You did the right thing. I probably would have just caused a big mess if I did get involved" he said nodding to Ty Lee and giving her a small smile. "Do you know if Zuko is okay?

Ty Lee's eyes then avoided Naruto's as she gritted her teeth a little. He-He was banished he said making Naruto's blood run cold. Ozai told him to leave Fire Nation and to never come back until Zuko found the Avatar.

What Ty Lee just said made Kurama also listen into the conversation. Any mention of the Avatar then caught Kurama's attention and hooked him. "But the avatar does not even exist anymore. Everyone knows that."

"I know but after Ozai told him not to come back until he found the avatar, Zuko now has it in his head that the avatar is still out there.

Naruto took it all in while Ty Lee told him what he missed during the few hours that he was knocked out. A couple of hours out and Zuko had been banished and had to find a person that supposedly did not exist anymore.

"Zuko has two days until he has to leave. From what I understand Iroh has decided to with him to keep his training going. He wanted me to tell you that he is sorry but his family has to come first with this matter."

"No no that's okay. I understand why he is doing it. He doesn't need to apologize. He is just doing what is right." Naruto said with no regret.

"I guess" Ty Lee muttered before she stared at Naruto who was now beginning to walk towards the door. The day had been long and rough and all the bent up emotions of the day were beginning to get to Ty Lee. The boy she cares about was being cold to her because he knew they could not be together, her friends had even told her that, her friend had been banished. Everything was changing and she hated it.

"Stop it" Ty Lee muttered as she stared at his back making him stop with fresh tears beginning to make their way down her face. "Stop it; stop it, STOP IT "she shouted lunging at him. Naruto turned around and caught her as she wrapped herself around him tightly refusing to let him go.

"Stop acting like this. Stop acting so cold."

"Ty Lee I"-

"I know why you're doing this and I don't care. I want to be with you and I don't care what the others think."

"Ty Lee please don't make this harder than it already is" Naruto choked out.

"No Naruto I won't let them stop us from being together. I'll do whatever it takes. Give up whatever I have to."

"No" Naruto said breaking the hug and putting her in front of him. "I can't let you make that kind of a sacrifice. Not for me. I want to be with you Ty Lee, I want to be with you so badly but if being with me costs you your family and friends then I won't let you do that."

"I get a say in this" Ty Lee replied back angrily. "You can't make a decision like this all by yourself. I won't let you just give up on us."

"Ty Lee we can't happen and I won't let you give up so much for me. You're my friend Ty Lee and I love you and I care about you and I love you but a friend is all we can ever be. If there was a way for us to be together I would do it but there isn't" Naruto chocked out letting a few tears slip through.

"Naruto don't do this" she said chocking out as Naruto walked do the door and exited the room. She followed after him not letting the conversation end. When she got out of the room she looked around but could not see Naruto anywhere. She bit her lip before she ran down a hallway looking for Naruto.

However Naruto was standing behind a wall in the opposite direction and watched as Ty Lee left. He put his head on the wall and sighed. He hated making Ty Lee feel pain but he knew that sometimes you had to be cruel to be kind.

"**It does not have to be this way you know"** Kurama said but Naruto shook his head.

"No I can't let her sacrifice everything just for me. Not now after what I saw today. After seeing Ozai hurt and banish his own son. I now see that staying here in Fire Nation is a mistake."

"**What are you saying kid?"**

"I'm saying that you were right. Our time in Fire Nation has come to end. I can't stay here while Ozai is in power. All he does is cause death and destruction and drive people to their end. I now see that I need to learn how to use my air bending powers. I have to do what it takes to bring Ozai down.

"**So this is the decision you have come up with. You're doing the right thing. Ozai has disgraced the name Fire Nation just as his ancestors have done. The Fire Nation needs to be brought back to its greatness and not in the way that it is now."**

"Your right. The decision is final. It's time to leave Fire Nation Naruto said before he left the palace and headed for home."

* * *

**Two days later**

Naruto stood at the Fire Nation dock's as he stared at the ship that Zuko would be taking in his banishment.

For the past two days Naruto and Kurama had been discussing where to go and when to. They decided that that the time to go would be the night that Zuko and Iroh left. There was a shipping vessel that would go past the Eastern Air Temples. There they decided they would learn to train in air bending.

"Naruto" a voice called getting his attention. He had sad smile on his face when he saw Zuko standing there wearing his usual fire nation attire with a bag slung over his shoulder. The only difference was that Zuko had a bandage covering his left eye.

"Hey"

"Hey" Zuko said s the two friends just gazed at the ground.

"Take care of yourself okay" Naruto said extending his arm out. Zuko did the same and the two shook hands before they came together for a brotherly hug.

"Did the others see you off?" he asked breaking apart from Zuko.

Mai and Ty Lee said goodbye but Azula decided training was a better use of her time.

"Don't worry about her. You know what Azula is like. She just has trouble showing these kinds of emotions."

"Well she has a funny way of showing she cares" Zuko said before he winced a little. I'm sorry about you and Ty Lee by the way" Zuko said making Naruto sigh. If it means anything if the laws were not in place then you two would have been good together. You two would have been perfect for each other.

"What like you and Mai?" Naruto said teasingly causing Zuko to blush.

"S-Shut up idiot" the prince stuttered out before the two broke put into laughs.

"I see you boys are well" Iroh said shuffling along behind them with a similar bag to Zuko over his shoulder.

"Just saying goodbye for now" Naruto said getting a nod from Zuko. "I have something for you sensei" Naruto called pulling from behind him a tea set with different sets and flavors of tea. Mom said you could probably use this during the travels.

Iroh's glinted with glee as he took the tea set from Naruto. "Ahh thank you Naruto. Your mother sure does know me well" he said. "This will make the next couple of weeks easier knowing I will have my tea with me."

"Yeah she thought you would say that" Naruto said before the ship honked loudly signaling that the ship was going to be leaving soon.

"We had better go Zuko. It's best to leave now before Ozai begins asking why we have not left yet" Iroh said getting a tired sigh and nod from the banished prince.

"Right uncle" Zuko said before giving Naruto a one armed hug which Naruto happily gave back before he left and walked inside the ship.

"Well it's been an honor training you my young student. You have progressed greatly in these last few years and I can already see you becoming a great fire bending master one day. Remember to keep practicing your fire bending and remember your fire comes from the heart, not from your anger" Iroh said.

"Thank you sensei. Thank you for these last few years under your tutelage. I could not have asked for a better to teacher" Naruto said bowing to Iroh.

"Remember to take care of your mother too" Iroh said since he did care greatly for his friend and always appreciated her taking their time to make him tea.

"I'm not sure I'll be able to. I'm leaving Fire Nation tonight" he said surprising Iroh. "I know I shouldn't leave with my mom and the others being here but after seeing Ozai do that to Zuko and seeing just how cruel hearted the Fire Nation can be I'm not sure I can stay here anymore."

"I see" Iroh said sadly since the Fire Nation really had missed a diamond in the rough when it came to Naruto. He would have made Fire Nation very prosperous if the Fire Nation wasn't falling into darkness and the nobles and higher up were so stuck up with their laws.

"Well as unfortunate as that is I will not stop you. If you feel it is what you must do then you should do it. But remember to always keep your mother's love with you Naruto. Lana loves you and she see's great things for your future."

Iroh then turned around and followed after Zuko. "Take care my young student. I am sure we shall run into each again one day he said before entering the ship and the metal door closed behind him.

A couple of minutes later Naruto stood at the dock as he watched his friend and mentor sail of for a task which was near impossible.

* * *

**Later that Night**

"This is it" Naruto thought as he stood in his room with a rucksack over his shoulder as he took one last look at his room. Who knows how long it would be until he came back here.

He swept his hand over his bed getting a feel for the covers before sighing out loud.

"**_You ready for this. Once we leave there is no turning back."_**

"As ready as I will ever be. It's now or never" Naruto said before he left is room and closed it for the last time. He walked down the stairs and walked past the kitchen.

"You're leaving aren't you" a voice called making him freeze mid step. His gaze slowly went into the kitchen and sighed when he Lana sitting there at the table.

"Yeah I am" Naruto whispered but Lana had heard him. She got up from her seat and slowly walked over to him. She was wearing her nightgown over her pajamas and stopped just in front of him. Naruto saw her face and was trying not to cry when he saw she was struggling not to cry.

"I had a feeling this day was going to come but I always hoped it wouldn't."

"Mom I" – Naruto stared but was quickly silence when Lana placed a delicate finger to his mouth.

"You don't have to say anything" she whispered before she sot forward and brought Naruto in a tight hug wrapping her arms around her surrogate son.

Naruto couldn't keep the tears at bay and let out a sob as he buried his head into Lana's neck. Kurama watched the embrace with a sad smile on his face as he kept quiet. This was a mother and son moment that did not need to be interrupted.

"Mom I know you don't want me to leave but I can't stay here anymore" he whispered as Lana hugged him even tighter.

"Does this have something to with Ty Lee?" she asked and could feel Naruto tense a little.

"That's just one of the factors?" he said feeling Lana nod.

"You are so grown up but yet I can only ever picture that little boy I helped nurse back to help. That little boy that had nowhere to go, no family to call his own. You showed up just when I needed someone the most. If you had not shown up when you did I don't know what my life would have been like. Empty and lonely are the only things that spring to my mind.

You may not be of my blood and I may not have carried you for nine months but- she said holding her hands on Naruto's cheeks and looking into his blue eyes. You are my son that will never change. You are the greatest gift that I could have ever gotten and I thank the spirits every day that I have you in my life.

"Mom" Naruto whispered as new tears made their way down his face. "Thank you. Thank you for being my mom. I couldn't have asked for anyone better. I truly am blessed to have you."

Neither mother or son moved fork their spot as for the next five minutes they just stood there and hugged each other since they knew they would not be like this for a very long time, if ever again.

"Will you write? So that I know your okay" Lana asked breaking the hug.

"I'll try. I have an idea of where I'm going to go but I probably won't be able to write anything for about month. At least not until I'm settled and have a strong idea of what will happen."

"Try. I want to make sure my boy is okay" she said getting a nod from Naruto. "Do you have everything you need?" she said looking at his rucksack getting a small laugh from Naruto."

"I'm not a little boy anymore."

"I know but I can always treat you like one. I'm your mother and mothers are allowed to do so" she said smiling.

"I guess" he said before he looked over at the door. "I have to go. I have one stop to make before I leave and I have to go before the boat leaves" he said getting a nod of understanding from Lana who quickly hugged her son again.

Please be safe. Be strong and come home she said before planting a small kiss on Naruto's cheeks which Naruto happily returned. Naruto headed towards the door and headed out slowly shutting it behind him.

Lana stood there on her own once again before she headed up to bed.

* * *

**With Naruto**

"Beautiful" he thought as he stared down at a sleeping Ty Lee. He managed to sneak in to her room since the guards at her estate were having a lazy moment. He had to see her one more time before he left.

He saw dry tear marks on her face signaling that she had been crying recently and he had a feeling he knew what she was crying over.

He bent down slightly and tucked a strand of her behind her ear before he placed a soft kiss on her lips. When he brought his head up he saw a small smile form on her lips. No doubt she was having a pleasant dream now.

"Good bye Ty Lee. Know that I love you from now to forever" he thought as his hand went into his pocket before placing a letter on the small nightstand beside her bed. He then went to her window and jumped out before sneaking back out.

As he walked towards the docks he looked around at the area and felt sad at leaving his home but he knew it had to be done. He knew this would affect Ty Lee in a negative way and that she would be heartbroken but it was for the best. He wanted her to move on and find someone that she could be with and have her own little family with whoever the lucky guy was.

Mai probably would act like it didn't affect her when on the inside it would. She would miss their small talks and Mai teasing Naruto about his crush for Ty Lee while he teased her on her crush for Zuko.

He knew that Azula would most likely hate him for this. She hated her mother for leaving and he had no doubt in his mind that the same thing was going to happen to him. The next time he ran into Azula he knew he should be prepared for a very unfriendly reunion.

He eventually arrived at the docks and remained undetected as he watched fire nation soldiers and workers load the giant trading ship with goods and products to be sent over.

He waited until they were almost finished before he managed to sneak onto the ship and find himself camping out in the giant cargo hold.

"**This is it"** Kurama said from within the seal as he watched the events unfold before him.

"Yeah" Naruto said. "This is it." He took one last look at his home before the ship set sail and Naruto left his home, not to return for nearly half a decade.

* * *

**Chapter 7 Completed**

**Thank you to MasamuneX23 for being the new Beta. :)**

**Next chapter will most likely be the time skip and will possibly have Naruto meet the Gaang.**

**Thanks for reading and please REVIEW.**


	8. Meeting The Gaang

**Just to remind everyone, the characters are two years older in this then in the original canon. So Naruto is 18, Ty lee is 16, Aang is 14 and so on.**

* * *

Chapter 8

**Four Years later**

In the northern part of the elemental bending world a young blonde man stood quietly in an unfamiliar stance as he stared out at the ocean in front of him. He was dressed in simple clothes with a sleeveless grey shirt which showed his muscular lean frame. He was wearing black pants and black combat like boots. On his hands he was wearing his patented fingerless gloves.

His spiky hair was slightly longer but was still short and was as spiky as ever. His blue eyes shined like high quality sapphire jewels while a slight bead of sweat glistened his eyebrow.

He shot his hand forward and when he did a huge plume of air shot forward completely distilling the air in front of him and knocking back what was in its way.

He then spun around and did the same but instead of air he shot out a column of red fire. When he did, he shot another plume of wind to the fire that caused it to at first look like it was about to feed the fire before it cut the fire column in two parts and quickly destroyed both.

This person was none other than the now eighteen year old Naruto Uzumaki.

In the last four years Naruto travelled across Earth country before he eventually found his way to the northern air temple. He and Kurama first tried the Eastern air temple but when they got there all they found were old buildings and the bones of the air nomads. No bending scrolls on air bending were found since they were most likely destroyed a long long time ago.

However Naruto eventually found himself at the Northern Air temple. When he got there he expected it to be just like the Eastern temple but instead he found a whole colony of inventors that had taken refuge in the old temples and now called the former air temple their home.

"Naruto" a voice called out bringing Naruto out of his sleep and looking over to the left. There he saw a young boy in a wheel chair making his way over. The boys name was Teo who became a friend to Naruto in the last four years that he spent at the Northern Air Temple. Teo had brown hair and had two bangs that went down the sides of his face and wore the usual green and yellow earth country clothes.

Teo from what Naruto had been told was paraplegic after a natural disaster that unfortunately took his mother's life and crippled him for life. When their home had been all but destroyed Teo's father "the Mechanist". No one actually knew Teo's fathers real name and everyone just called him The Mechanist or in Naruto's case Mecks. Mecks led his son and all the survivors to their new home which later would be the Northern Air temple.

Naruto remembered first meeting the father and so the duo along with all the other survivors were all at first wary of him since he had protected them from some Fire Nation soldiers that were passing by. Naruto defended them but revealed his power to fire bend which caused many to become nervous around him but he proved he was not there to harm them and over time the colony of survivors came to see Naruto as one of them while Teo became Naruto's friend. His first new friend since leaving the Fire Nation.

The colony unfortunately had many run-ins with the Fire Nation with the usual reasons being them wanting Teo's father to build machines for them to help them in the war. When he had said no they tried to black mail him but Naruto had quickly put an end to that. Though when they woke up in the morning they discovered that some of The Mechanists blue prints had been stolen and they feared the Fire Nation snuck in during the night.

Naruto hated that they managed to slip past him and drove himself even harder in his training.

"Hey Teo" Naruto called wiping the sweat of his brow with a towel nearby and watched as the boy rolled over towards him with a big grin on his face. "I'm guessing you and your father finished your little project?"

"Something like that but I thought you would like to know that we have visitors."

Naruto immediately scowled. "Oh? It's not more Fire Nation soldiers is it" he asked causing Teo to shake his head. The last thing he wanted to deal with was more Fire Nation solders. They were really beginning to become a thorn in his side.

He was quickly making a name for himself when it came to fighting off the Fire Nation that he started to become quite well known throughout the world as the mysterious teen who commands air in one hand and fire in the other. Most at first thought he was the avatar but he quickly shot that down and they just said he must have been a very special boy who was gifted somehow with the ability to bend two elements.

"Not even close. It's actually two water tribesmen and some giant bison. My dad keeps saying it's a sky bison" he said making Naruto's eyes widen.

"A Sky Bison?" he thought. "Hey Kurama I thought you said the Sky Bison's were extinct?"

"**_I never said they were extinct" _**the age old fire spirit complained from within the seal. _**"I just said they were very rare to come by these days.**_ **_You would be very lucky to ever see one in your lifetime since most were probably wiped out in the massacre of the Air Nomads."_**

"That's not all" Teo said stopping Naruto and Kurama's conversation. "There's a boy with him, about fourteen years old with arrow patterns all over his body and is wearing these weird orange and yellow clothes."

From within the seal Kurama's eyes widened**_ "Arrow patterns all over the body. It couldn't be could it?" _**he thought.

"Kurama that sounds like those weird arrow patterns you wanted me to tattoo onto my body which I promptly said no too" Naruto said to Kurama. As soon as Kurama told him about the tattoo's he said no. While he found the idea of having tattoos cool at first he immediately turned it down when Kurama told him about shaving off his hair to put an arrow tattoo on it. There was definitely no freaking way he was going to shave off his awesome blond hair that was unique in this world. He and Kurama argued for days before Kurama eventually gave up when Naruto shot back asking how he'd like to shave off his fur to get tattoos himself. After that the conversation didn't come up again.

"**_I know I'm thinking at the moment"_** Kurama said with Naruto shrugging as his answer.

"Sounds like a weird group. Did they say what they wanted?"

"Said they were looking for the sky walkers. I'm guessing they just came here looking for the colony since we do have machines that go in the air."

"True" Naruto said before Teo spoke up again.

"But get this. The weirdly dressed one is claiming he's an air bender. Not only that but also the Avatar" Teo said making Naruto and Kurama completely freeze.

"Kurama?"

"**_Go and check it out"_** Kurama ordered. Not needing to be told twice Naruto told Teo to take him to the visitors to which the paraplegic boy happily agreed too.

"So what do you think of them. Are they hostile?" Naruto asked Teo since he wanted to prepare himself if their guests turned out to be hostile.

"Not from what I've have seen. The kid in yellow and orange says he wanted to see if there were any air benders that still remained here though I'm surprised he would think that. Everyone knows there any no more air benders in the world. Well except you and possibly this guy" he said getting a nod from Naruto.

"Do you think he is an air bender?" Naruto asked and got a nod in response from Teo.

"Yeah I think he is. I was in the air when they arrived at he jumped off the sky bison and was using his Bo staff that had aviator parts to it to float. Plus he created some weird air ball underneath him that let him travel over the ground. It was pretty cool.

"Sounds like quite something" Naruto said.

"Whoever this guy is he defiantly sounds like an air bender. And here I thought they were all gone" he thought to Kurama who was mentally agreeing with him.

"**_He could be a survivor of some sort. An ancestor that managed to make it out and carried on the air bending lineage"_** Kurama thought as Naruto figured it was plausible idea.

"But then how would they off been able to keep clear of Fire Nation. After a hundred years surely they must have heard about a family of air benders.

Kurama shrugged**_. Your guess is as good as mine. For now let's just go to this group and see if they are telling the truth._**

Eventually after the walk they arrived back at the temple. The temple itself was like a styled castle and had statues of air benders that were carved into the wall along with different carvings and paintings.

They difference was that there were now pipes and mechanical parts all over the temple that helped Mecks with his creations and mechanics. Thought Naruto didn't want the temple to be altered like that, he understood it was for the good of the colony and that sometimes changes like that were necessary. There was steam coming out of one of the sky bison statues that led to one of Mecks crazy inventions and Naruto figured out long ago not to ask what it did since there were so many, he doubted Teo's father could remember most of them.

The two were interrupted from their thoughts when they heard a crash coming from just ahead of them.

When they arrived they saw Teo's father Mecks standing in front of a new hole in the wall. Teo's father was a middle aged man who had brown that stuck up in the air that circled round a bald spot. He had a large brown moustache and was wearing a green jumpsuit with black worker boots and a large white apron.

"THIS WHOLE PLACE STINKS" Naruto heard someone yell when he saw a small brightly clothes figure just ahead of him swing a staff looking weapon down on the ground that sent a wave of air shooting forward that hit and destroyed one of the loading equipment and sent it spiraling out off the mountain range the temple was located on as it plummeted towards the ground.

As they arrived at the group Naruto now got a good look at the new group of people. At the back there was a giant animal with shaggy white hair with a large tail and horn on its head. It had a grayish face and large eyes. Naruto couldn't help but find it pretty adorable despite its size.

"A Sky Bison?" Naruto asked Kurama.

"**_Yep that's a sky Bison alright. It's been a very long time since I have seen one of those."_**

He then looked at the three people beside the Sky bison. The first was a boy who looked to be the oldest of the group, possible about seventeen. He had darkish tanned skin with dark brown hair that was tied in a small pony tail while the side of his head was shaved. He was wearing a large blue and white jacket and blue pants along with dark brown boots.

The next person was the only female of the group who Naruto figured must have been related to the older boy since there were similarities between the two. She too had dark tanned like skin and had brown hair that was tied in long braid but had two bits of hair that were in some sort of loop like fashion and on each side of her face. She had gentle looking blue eyes and her clothing was similar to the other boy except she had light blue boots. Naruto found her to be an attractive girl and knew when she grew up she'd be a real beauty.

"Definitely water tribesman" he thought to himself and Kurama agreed. They had met a few water tribesmen in the past and had even visited the Northern Water Tribe for a short time so he knew what a water tribesman looked like and they were definantly them.

Then Naruto's attention turned to the final member. He looked like the youngest of the group, around fourteen years old was his best guess. The boy was bald and had the blue arrow marking over his body that Teo had mentioned earlier.

He was wearing bright yellow shirt and pants but had an orange cape like clothing that covered some of the upper half of his body. Also he had orange shoes on his feet and wielded a dark brown Bo staff.

"**_Those are the traditional clothing of the air nomads. No doubt about it, that boy is an air bender for sure. Thought if he is the Avatar he's not quite there yet."_**

"Well let's find out" Naruto said joining the group which had now attracted some more of the colony workers as the boy was talking to Teo's father and didn't look too pleased.

"This is a sacred temple. You can't treat it this way. I know what it was like when the monks were here and it was not supposed to be treated this way."

"The monks?" Teo's father said looking a little confused before Teo wheeled up next to him.

"Dad this guy says he is the Avatar. Apparently he came here a hundred years ago."

"A hundred years ago?" Naruto thought to himself as did Kurama not exactly understanding what Teo meant by that statement.

"What are you doing here? Who said you could be here?" the boy asked a little harshly and Naruto could see Teo's father struggling to answer so he stepped in.

"There here because they have no other place to go" he said stepping forward causing everyone to look at him. Teo's father looked a little grateful while the two boys looked like they were observing him. The water tribe girl however had a small blush on her face that she tried to hide as she looked at the blonde.

"Who is this guy and what is up with his hair?" they thought since they had never seen this type of hair before.

"Urm who are you?" The airbender said causing little sweat drops to appear on everyone's head.

"I'm Naruto"

Hearing the name of the male watertribesman let out a laugh. "What kind of name is fishc...". However before he could finish his sentence he was grabbed by the collar and pushed coming face to face with an angry Naruto.

"It's Naruto like the maelstrom and if you don't want to see a storm of anger from me you'll not call me by the fishcake!" Naruto said angrily as he threated Sokka. Normally he'd just get annoyed at being called fishcake but after having everyone he ever met confuse his name for fishcake he lost all patience with the topic with the only exception being when girls are the ones who confuse his name.

Seeing the danger the watertribe girl stepped forward. "I'm sorry for my brother, please don't hurt him he's just an idiot sometimes" she said in a slightly pleading tone.

Seeing her pleading look Naruto let go of the boy but gave him a look saying "better watch yourself".

"So who are you guys?" Naruto asked.

The girl answered first. "I'm Katara; it's nice to meet you" she said bowing al little to which Naruto bowed back.

"I'm Sokka" the older boy said giving a small wave and had a nervous goofy smile on his face.

"And I'm Aang. I'm the Avatar and I want to know why these people are all in the Northern Air Temple. This place is not like I use to remember it and has had many disrespectful changes made to it."

Naruto was about to speak before Teo's father interrupted and he himself explained why they were here. Naruto meanwhile was talking to Kurama.

"Well I guess he really is the Avatar. If that is so then where has he been all these years?" He asked Kurama.

"**_I don't know. Once the cycle is broken it can't ever be fixed so I am just as confused as you are."_**

"Time travel maybe?" Naruto asked and heard Kurama snort.

"**_Doubtful. No one can time travel. Not even we spirits can. Dimension travel yes. Time travel, no."_**

"Then I guess we will have to ask him later and get some answers" he said with Kurama nodding in agreement. He too wanted to understand just what was going on.

"I doubt the boy is very powerful yet. I can sense one of them is a water bender and from him I can sense airbending but that is it. He must be very new to this."

"Meaning he does not have his other elements yet" Naruto summarized with Kurama humming in agreement.

"The next element after air is water. So with that said do you think he is looking for someone to train him in water bending?" He asked.

"**_It's possible. We are in the northern part of the world and therefore the Northern Water Tribe is in this area. Since Azulon had control over the southern Water Tribe my best guess would be there are very few water benders left over there. Therefore its necessary to go to the Northern tribe to find a teacher."_**

"And the girl? Could she be going there too to learn about water bending."

"**_I assume so"_** Kurama said before he cut the connection when Naruto saw Teo is front of him waving his hand in his face.

"Yo Naruto you in their?" he said causing Naruto to snap out of it.

"Sorry I zoned out" he said as he looked around to noticed that the one known as Sokka was gone as was Teo's father. The only ones left were him, Teo, Aang and Katara.

"Well come on Aang I got something I want to show you" he said as he wheeled off with Aang following behind him. Naruto followed after with Katara walking beside him.

It was quiet as they walked in silence towards the thing Teo wanted to show Aang. Naruto had a good guess what he wanted to show him but didn't say anything.

"So how long have you been here exactly" Katara asked next to Naruto trying to strike a conversation with the older boy.

Naruto smiled. "About four years. I come and go a few times but this has been my main place of residence. It's where I like to train my bending skills."

"You're a bender?" She asked which also got the attention of Aang.

"I am he said before he noticed it was getting a little dark down the hallway they were walking down. I think we could use some light he said with Teo nodding.

Naruto held up his hand before red fire enflamed his hand making the area brighter and letting them have better visibility but it caused Aang and Katara to jump away from him and get in battle stances.

"You're a firebender!?" Katara growled out while Aang had his Bo staff in his hand with air already forming at the tip of it.

"I am" he said as he continued to walk along side Teo who looked a little amused at their reactions.

"Why is he here Teo? Anyone form Fire Nation is evil. Don't you know that?" Katara said not taking her eyes off of Naruto.

"Well that's a little harsh" Naruto said. "If it eases you at all, despite me being a firebender I have no allegiance to Fire Nation in any way."

That caused the two to slump a little.

"You don't work for the Fire Nation?" they asked getting a nod from Naruto.

"I will admit that I was raised there but I hold no love for the Fire Nation. At least I hold no love for the people that run the Fire Nation."

Katara and Aang looked at each other. "Could he be a deserted like Jeong Jeong?" she asked.

"It's possible. He did become a traitor to help us and he hasn't made any attempts to harm us. Plus Teo and the others seem to trust him. Let's keep going but keep your guard up just in case" he said getting a nod from Katara as the two then followed on after Naruto and Teo but kept their guard around Naruto just in case.

"Hey why is your fire red?" Aang asked since he just realized his fire was a different colour than usual. Katara was wondering the same thing too since she had never seen a different coloured flame before. Thought she had no love for the Fire Nation or fire, she had to admit the red fire did look very beautiful.

"That's a story for later" Naruto said quickly silencing the group as they suddenly stopped in front of a large door with strange devices on the front.7

"This is an untouched part of the temple. There were some talk about what we could do with it but Naruto said to leave it as it was as a way of honoring the former monks and air benders that live here" Teo said surprising both Aang and Katara.

"How do we get in?" Katara asked as she and Aang walked up to the door and began examining it.

"Airbending" Naruto said walking up to it. You need to use airbending to open it. You send a wave of air through the device and it will unlock the lock on the door.

"Can we go in?" Aang asked getting a nod from Naruto. Aang smiled and was about to step forward to bend the doors open when Naruto spoke up again.

"Allow me" he said putting his hand in front of the device before shooting a strong wave of air through the device and all around the tubes that were around the door. They all heard a series of clicks sound out before the door began to lift up and disappear into the wall.

"There you go" Naruto said harmlessly before noticing Aang and Kataras shocked looks. "Oh right I forgot they don't know I can airbend" he said while Kurama face palmed in the seal.

"**_Sometimes I doubt your sanity kid"_** Kurama thought.

"H-How did you do that" Katara said. "I thought you were a firebender."

"I am a firebender."

"Then how can you airbend" Aang asked as he was now confused as hell at what he just saw. He was the Avatar wasn't he? So how was Naruto able to airbend and firebend.

"It's a long story, one I will share with you when I trust you. But for now why don't you see what is inside" Naruto said gesturing to the room inside.

They walked inside and Naruto threw a few small fireballs to some touches that were around the dark room. He had been in here a few times so he knew where they all were.

When the light lit the room Aang gaped a little as he looked around the circle like room and saw statues and intricate stone design of the previous monks that lived here as well as stone carved pictures that showed different air bending moves and methods of flying.

"When we found this place some time ago we figured that since so much of the temple is being changed, this place should be left untouched as a way of honoring the monks that lived here before the colony did. Everyone agreed. "

"Nothing will change in here?" Aang asked which Naruto nodded his head. That's good. It was a shock to see so much of this place change but to know that one place; especially a special place this will remain untouched is okay by me. Thank you.

"Any time" Naruto said as Katara comforted Aang who let a lonely tear as he examined the walls of all the previous air benders and monks. No doubt being one of the last had a heavy toll on the young boy.

They stayed there for a little while as Aang told Katara a few stories of his time at the Northern Air Temple during one of his visits while Teo happily listened in. Naruto stood to the side as he watched and listened to Aangs stories.

Eventually after about an hour they left the room and headed back outside where dusk was slowly beginning to set in.

"Let's go get some food. I imagine you guys are a little hungry" Naruto said as Aang and Katara suddenly heard there stomach rumble.

"Umm yeah maybe a little" Aang said as Naruto led them to the giant dining room where already lots of people were filling in to. Teo's father was sitting of in the centre with a few of the worked, do doubt discussing what sort of improvements and new machines to make next.

They were served with a warm beef stew as they sat around a small table to the side while Teo went to go sit with his father while Sokka walked over to take a seat next to Katara.

"Have fun" Katara asked him as Naruto lit the candle in front with a tiny plume of fire. Aang and Katara thought nothing of it while Sokka saw it and jumped up from his seat.

"HE'S A FIREBENDER" he yelled out surprising everyone in the room. He then drew out a boomerang and threw it towards Naruto.

Naruto however saw the boomerang coming towards him and lazily moved his head to the side letting it pass right by him. After a few second he then moved his head again and dodged it's returned before it whacked Sokka in the forehead, since the boy was yelling so much he was not paying any attention to his own weapon.

"Sokka sit down. He is no threat to us, right? Katara asked getting a nod from Naruto.

"But he's a firebender. How can he not be our enemy?" Sokka said before he got right up in Naruto's face. "Oh I see your one of those that wait till the last minute and pretend to be out friend before Wham, you turn on us" Sokka said as he made himself look like he was some sort of detective which raised an eyebrow from both Naruto and Kurama.

"**_I think he is an idiot."_**

"I think you might be right." Naruto thought in agreement.

"Ignore him" Katara said silencing her brother. "He took one too many knocks to the head as a child." While saying this she had Sokka in a headlock while berating her brother why he was being so stupid.

"Sure" he said as he noticed Sokka trying to give him the evil eye while failing at it.

"Hey Naruto can I ask something?" Katara asked.

"Hmm what is it?"

"Is that your real hair color?" Katara asked while gazing at the unnusuel hair color that seemed to catch her attention.

Naruto raised an eyebrown. "Yeah it is, I was born with it along with these" he said while pointing to his whisker marks.

Seeing where he was pointing the others moved closer to see. "Wow are those birthmarks?" Katara asked as she unintentionally put a hand on Naruto's cheek as she petted them feeling how the felt like scars.

Naruto blushed slightly at the contact while Aang lookeda little unnerved at seeing Katara just touching someones face like that.

"Umm yeah, I've had them since I was born like my hair color" Naruto a little hesitantly as he was starting to enjoy the feel of her hands. Thankfully she pulled away when she saw what she was doing.

"Sorry I was curious" Katara apologized.

"It's fine" Naruto said back.

"So" Aang said as he got Naruto's attention. "How can you fire bend and air bend? No one except the Avatar should be able to bend more than one element.

Sokka looked confused while Katara told him she would explain later while Naruto shrugged. "Guess I'm just a little more special than most" he said though none of them were buying it.

"I'll tell you this much. We have only just met so I don't quite trust you guy enough to tell you the full truth but I will tell you this" he said getting looks of anticipation from them. "I was born an air bender but due to a certain individual, was able to learn how to firebend as well."

"So you're really an air bender but due to a certain someone you can fire bend too?" Katara summarized getting an odd from Naruto.

"WOOHOO" Aang suddenly shouted. "This is great. I'm not the only air bender left in the world". He said getting smiles all round, even Sokka. They all knew Aang was greatly affected when he found he was the last air bender left but now that they have discovered Naruto who too was an air bender, no doubt it would cheer the bald headed boy up.

"But if you're really an airbender then how come you don't have tattoos like Aang?" Katara asked.

Naruto knew they would ask this but thankfully he was prepared with an answer. "We'll that's cause my mother was a waterbender while my father was an airbender. Since both my parents weren't air nomads my body didn't inherit the airbending tattoos like Aang has" Naruto said halve truthfully since during the four years Kurama had told him about his parents and how his mother was a water jutsu specialist while his father was a wind specialist, so in a way he was telling the truth.

"So if both parents aren't airbenders then their future kids don't get the tattoos?" Sokka asked.

"Is that true Aang?" Katara asked wanting to be sure.

Aang nodded. "Yeah it's true, monk Gyatso told me all about it when he and I used to play together, it was on of those history lessons about our people " he said a bit sadly at remembering his deceased father figure and how he saw his bony remains.

"So since you guys know a little about me why don't you tell me about you guys. What brings you all the way out here?" he asked wanting to change the conversation away from him since he didn't want them to ask questions involving his parents.

"Well firstly like I said earlier I'm the Avatar" Aang said.

"So you really are the Avatar. If you don't mind me asking where exactly have you been for the last hundred years" Naruto said as he and Kurama were both very interested in finding out where he had been all these years.

Aang got a sad look on his face. "I was kind of frozen for the last hundred years" he said getting a confused look form Naruto. I found out I was the avatar just over a hundred years ago. When I found out I panicked I ran away with Appa, my sky bison. However we were caught in a storm which was too strong for us to fight against. We got caught in the ocean and began to sink. I don't know how but I suddenly went in the Avatar stare and I and Appa were frozen in an ice dome.

"Then the next thing I know a hundred years have passed and Katara and Sokka found me in the south pole."

Naruto and Kurama listened and they guessed they could understand why the he ran away from his duties even thought they did feel a little angry at him for doing so.

He was a fourteen year old boy who suddenly had the fate of the world thrown to him by being claimed as the Avatar.

"So why are you all the way out here?" Naruto asked calmly.

We are heading to the Northern Water Tribe to find Aang water bending teacher and maybe one for myself too" Katara said.

"You're a water bender?" he said getting a nod from Katara.

"I'm not very good since I was really the only one in the Southern Water Tribe. That and we are going to help Aang in his quest to stop the Fire Nation" she said confidently.

"You guys want to stop the Fire Nation?" he said since there goal was pretty much the same as his in a way.

"Of course. The Fire Nation is ruining everything. They are hurting innocent and defenseless people. They have to be stopped" Katara said with conviction in her voice as Aang and Sokka nodded.

"That's quite a goal. One that won't be easy to accomplish. You're effectively going against an entire Nation with three people. Are you sure you are ready and prepared for it.

"We may not be right now but we will be once Aang learns to master all forms of bending" Sokka said with Aang nodding along.

"And we will be with him every step of the way" Katara said placing a hand on Aangs shoulder and noticing a small twinge of red appear on the younger boys face which caused him to smirk inwardly.

"Interesting" Naruto said as they all began to eat there dinner while Sokka kept a careful eye on Naruto.

"So you said you were from the Fire Nation?" Katara spoke to Naruto who nodded. "Why did you leave if you don't mind me asking?" she said with the others leaning in since they wanted to know too.

"The main reason?" he said getting a nod from the three. I disagreed with everything Fire Lord Ozai stood for. I have met Ozai and let me tell you he is a real piece of trash who wants nothing more than to spread pain and suffering across the world.

"You met the Fire lord" Sokka asked as he and the others all had their eyes wide.

"I have met him many times. I grew up with his children Zuko and Azula and her two friends he said trying not to say Ty Lee's name while the others were left gaping.

"YOU KNOW ZUKO?" they all said getting odd looks form Naruto.

"I do. I am guessing that by your reactions you've already had the pleasure of meeting him too."

"Of course we know him. He has been chasing us ever since we left the south pole. He has become fixated with capturing Aang. We have run into him countless times."

"Yeah that sounds like Zuko. Still hot tempered I'm guessing."

"You don't know the half of it" Aang said crossing his arms.

"So you actually grow up with Zuko?" Katara asked getting a nod from Naruto. "W-Why is he so angry all the time?"

Naruto sighed. "If you want to know the reason why then you will have to get it from Zuko. I am not taking his side or anything but some secrets are personal and if I told you it would betray his trust. Though I have not spoken to Zuko in over four years, he is still my friend and I won't betray his trust. Then again if he attacks I will defend myself and I will fight him if necessary."

"Let's just say Zuko has not had an easy life despite popular beliefs" he said getting small nods from the trio since they could understand at not wanting to break someone's trust. They wouldn't do that to each other so Naruto has every right not to say anything about Zuko, despite their feeling towards him.

The doors to the great room suddenly swung open and one of the workers fell to his knee's trying to catch his breath. "Sir Fire Nation soldiers making their way up the mountain towards us."

Everyone went a little wide eyed as the other worker began to panic while Naruto stood up and made his way over. How many he asked but the man shook his head.

"Lots. At least a few hundred. They have tanks with them as well. I only spotted them at the last minute on the north side of the temple. They will be here within the hour."

"Okay" Naruto before he ran out of the room.

"**_It's been_** **_a while since we had a good fight"_** Kurama said within the seal.

"Yeah well it's time to get serious."

Naruto made it over to the north side and frowned at what he saw. Fire Nation solders marching single file along the ridge of the mountain slowly making their way to the top. "It looks like they really are desperate to get their hands on those blueprints" Naruto thought.

He channeled wind into his hands and shot them towards the solder which created minor avalanches that helped to block the solders path. It would not hold them for long but it would keep the soldiers where they were for a bit longer.

He heard shuffling coming from behind him and look around to see the other workers getting their small flying machines ready and putting them on the runway. He saw Aang in front of them with his bow staff along with Teo and Katara.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked coming over.

"Were going to help fight the fire nation solders off. This is our home and we are fed up with them trying to take everything we work hard for away from us" he said getting a small found of cheers from the others workers.

"And we won't let these people fight by themselves. We are going to help" Aang said getting a nod from Katara making Naruto smile.

"Well the help would always be greatly appreciated. But where is Sokka?"

"He is with my dad. Said they had some kind of cool idea that would help us with the battle and took off."

"How long do we have?" Katara asked.

"Not long so we better try and gear up now" Naruto said before everyone stopped when they could hear the sound of chains rattling and metal clunking from the ridge.

Naruto and the others moved over to look and frowned when they saw fire nation tanks heading towards the temple.

"That can't be good" they all thought before they all took their positions and readied themselves for the fight.

Naruto dug into his pocket and pulled out a small metal stick the size of a pole. He squeezed it tightly before it suddenly shot forwards and got larger to around six feet in length. Then wings shot out from the sides just like Aangs did.

Aang saw it looked very surprised at Naruto wielding the weapon. Said blonde just shrugged.

"I'm an air bender. It's kind of mandatory I have one of these" he said making Aang smile.

All the workers lined up in two single filed rows while Katara stood behind Teo so she could give him a good push to help him get in the air.

Naruto stood next to Aang and then took off in a run. They held their Bo staffs high above their head letting the wind slowly carry them up and up until they off the ground and flying in the air. Theo these did the same and quickly followed after, all carrying stink bombs, slime bombs, smoke bombs etc in order to keep the fire Nation soldiers away from their homes.

The group flew over where they quickly spotted the Fire Nation soldiers marching back up the mountain side.

Immediately they dived down and greatly surprised the soldiers, even causing a few to lose their balance and fall off. The workers threw the various bombs at the solider and manage to knock a fair few over while the soldiers tried to hit them with their weapons but were failing miserably at it.

"Take them out of the sky" they heard one solider shout out but when he did a wave of smoke bombs hit the soldiers causing them all to start coughing and losing their visibility.

Then Naruto and Aang flew towards them and together shot a strong wave of wind at the soldiers that caused the soldiers hit the rocks behind them before falling forward and falling of the ridge and on to the snow at the bottom of the mountain.

Aang then jumped onto the ground above the soldiers and using his air bending created a large cover of snow to fall on top of them, either knocking them away or burying them in snow.

"We have them on the run" Aang called out as Katara was riding on top of Appa with Momo and was handing out more of the make shift bombs to the flyers. However large metal chains suddenly shot up from beside Appa startling the flying bison that hooked onto the mountainside. Climbing along the mountain side via the chains were the metal tanks that were quickly making their way up.

"I don't think so" Naruto thought as he impaled his staff into the side of the cliff with him standing on top of it. Compressing fire into his hands he shot his fist forwards and over the two of the large chains. He kept the fire on them for half a minute before he stopped the fire and saw the chains had melted greatly.

Then an audible snap sounded out and two of two of the tanks were sent spiraling back down to the ground below them. Aang did the same and used his air bending to unclip the grappling hooks from the rock.

However there were still many tanks still climbing the mountain side and a few had already made it to the top and onto flat land.

The flyer round around the tanks seeing them as the bigger threat dropping their make shift bombs on top of them but they were not having very much effect on them while the tanks were now shooting fire balls towards them.

Some of the slime bombs got lucky and managed to hit the soldiers inside the tanks but Naruto and Aang could see they would not last much longer if they did not get rid of the tanks. So they both dropped from the air and landed in the snow with the tanks all around them.

Naruto brought his fist down to the earth which created a huge torrent of air to slam into one of the tanks and made it fly into the air and of the side.

Aang did the same but was using his Bo staff and flip them over. However it was not having much effect on the tanks.

"**_Kid time to take this up a notch"_** Kurama said with Naruto mentally agreeing with him.

"Take this" Naruto shouted shooting a large torrent of red fire towards the tanks which looked surprised when they saw a huge torrent of fire charging straight towards them.

Oh no they all shouted before the fire slammed into them causing one tanks to smack in another tank, that tank to smash into another etc. By the end of it and the fire died down five of the tanks were now in a scrap heap.

That will teach them" Naruto said before he looked over at Aang. Katara had now joined Aang was had used her water bending to make ice that caught two of the tanks and had dissected the tank into piece while Aang continued to blow them away with air bending.

"Hmm they make a pretty good team" Naruto thought however he was taken out of his thought when he saw another wave of tanks descending towards Aang and Katara with Aang using his staff to knock the fire balls away from them.

"Hell no" Naruto said appearing in front of them and put his hand together before making a lifting motion. When he did a huge wall of red fire appeared in front of them stopping the fire ball and melting the snow that was around them from the great heat.

"Wow" both Aang and Katara thought as they looked at the wall of fire.

"This guy is really strong" Katara thought. Aang was thinking the same. They both knew Naruto could be a great addition to their group. Appa appeared beside them and Aang and Katara quickly got on board while dragging Naruto who still wanted to kick some ass.

They saw a new wave of tanks and soldiers that had made it up the mountain heading for the temple and knew that they would be sitting ducks just standing in the open like that. They knew Naruto was powerful but they were not sure if he could take on a whole wave like that so they played t safe and dragged him with them.

"Damn where Is Sokka?" Katara said with Teo flying beside them. However just as they did a large shape appeared just above them that cast down a shadow.

In the air was a type of make shift blimp with the blimp being made in red colours and had giant bags attached to the sides of it. Teo's father and Sokka stood on the blimp

"I told you we could find a great way to use the natural gas" Sokka said getting a nod from Teo's father.

"It was ingenious my boy. I don't know how I did not think of it earlier. And with the blimp being red, the Fire Nation soldiers think we are on their side."

What he said was true as the others noticed none of the enemy soldiers were attacking since they figured the blimp like flying machine was on their side.

"He he he bombs away" Sokka said as he cut the rope of one of the giant bags which fell right on top of the soldiers and made a wave of green sludge cover them and trapping the tanks making them immobile.

After all the bag had been released Sokka caught a whiff of what smelt like rotten eggs before he noticed a crack in the mountain side and figured some of the gas must have been escaping from there.

Naruto, Aang and Katara meanwhile were disabling the grabbling hooks that the tank had fired in order to help get out of the green sludge. However Naruto fire was quickly melting the metal away, not giving the tank much of a chance.

"There was only one way" Sokka said as he grabbed the engine that contained some of the gas they collected to power the blimp. Theo's father looked a little worriedly at it before he sighed knowing it was the only way. He and Sokka grabbed a hold of it before they pushed it of the blimp and into the crack in the mountainside.

At first nothing happened which made everyone look at it curiously before a huge rumbling explosion was set off causing a giant shockwave that knocked everyone of their feet.

The area where the fire nation troops had been marching on suddenly collapsed beneath them and found themselves falling towards the snow beneath them.

The others held their hands in front of their faces before the smoke finally began to clear and they saw whatever remnants of the Fire Nation soldiers were left were now retreating back the way they came.

"That will teach them" Naruto thought as he stood up watching the soldiers run.

"**_And with that giant land mass that were on now gone, they won't be able to climb back up. The only way to get to the temple now will be by air. And the Fire Nation does not have any air structures"_**Kurama said with Naruto nodded.

"We might need some help over here" Sokka yelled out as everyone suddenly noticed the blimp was going down.

"Let's go get them" Naruto said to Aang who nodded. The two then took off into the air and flew over to Sokka and Teo's father.

Naruto grabbed Mecks while Aang grabbed Sokka and watched as the blimp went down and would most likely crash into the ground below.

Naruto and Aang landed back on the ground with Sokka and Mecks and the whole temple cheered loudly at their victory.

The rest of the day was spent celebrating as laughter and chatter sounded out through the temple. The kind that made Aang happy to know that he was not as alone in the world as he thought as he, Katara an Sokka continued to get along with Teo and Naruto and tell them about their travels so far.

* * *

**The Next Day**

"**_Are you sure about this?"_** Kurama asked from within the seal.

"Yeah I'm sure. Are time here is at its end. We have trained for four years and I have gotten stronger. Now the avatar and his group have made it their mission to save this world and stop Ozai. Their goals are the same as mine. So I'm gonna join them and help them out as much as I can. Besides Aang will need a firebending teacher so maybe I can teach him when he's ready"

"You can't go wrong with having friends to watch your back."

Kurama nodded. "**_So it begins"_** he thought before he closed his eyes.

Naruto gathered what stuff he had in his room and put them all in a sack. He grabbed a small box of letter and looked at them.

They were letter from Lana back home. He made sure to write to her when he could and did his best to send her a letter every month or so, just so that she he was alright. He would always get replies back within the week.

He had thought about writing to Ty Lee but he was against that. He didn't know if Ty Lee hated him for leaving like he did and what she thought of the letter that he left her the night he left.

And of course he dared not find out what Azula and Mai thought of him. While Mai probably didn't act or anything, he knew what Azula was like. She went postal when her mother left so he dared not find out what happened when he left. No doubt Azula hated him.

He knew he and Azula would run into each other eventually and he knew that when he did she would be aiming to kick his ass big time.

He packed all his stuff and left and headed over towards where Aang and his group were.

* * *

**With the Gaang**

"As long as we have the skies we will have the Fire Nation on the run" Sokka yelled with his fist in the air getting a round of applause and cheers from everyone around. All the workers were here to see Aang and the group as they make the final trip towards the Northern Water Tribe.

"You ready to go" Katara asked to Aang who nodded. He was happy that he was so close to finally learning water bending but a little sad that he was leaving the Northern Air Temple behind.

"Wait up" Naruto called out as he neared the group getting everyone's attention. "You guys got room for one more?"

As soon as he asked Aang had a giant smile on his face, Katara looked a little weary but shrugged it off and had a small smile on her face while Sokka was grinning ear to ear. Ever since the celebration the night before Naruto and Sokka bonded over beer.

"Definantly" Sokka and Aang cried out massing Naruto in a group hug while Katara smiled at the scene.

"You're really going?" Teo asked a little sadly.

"Teo it was never my intention to remain here forever. I set out from my home with a goal in mind and its time that I started to accomplish that goal. Aang and his friends have a similar goal and it would make sense that I team with them."

Teo nodded in understanding as he and Naruto had a friendly hug. Afterwards Naruto shook hands with Teo's father who thanked him for all the help Naruto has done for them over the past few years.

Naruto got on Appa's back as the others did the same before they took off into the air, waving goodbye to the friends they made at the Northern Air Temple.

"Here we go" Naruto thought as they headed towards the Northern Water Tribe.

* * *

**Chapter 8 Completed**

**Beta's by Masumune X23 :)**

**Thanks for reading and please REVIEW :)**


	9. Welcome To The North

Chapter 9

High up in the sky over the vast and seemingly endless ocean was Appa flying towards the north pole and on top of him were Aang, Sokka, Katara, Momo and they're newest friend and ally Naruto Uzumaki.

"So Naruto" Katara said as she looked over at the lounging blonde who was staring up at the clouds in the sky. "You mentioned that you have been to the Northern Water Tribe before. What's it like if you don't mind me asking?"

It had been three days since they had left the Northern Air Temple and they were slowly getting closer to their destination. Naruto knew they would most likely be making it their sometime today and it would be nice to stay on solid ground longer than an hour since Appa did need his rest.

He had bonded more with the group despite them still being a little tense around him. He couldn't blame them since he guessed they all had their fair share of bad experiences with Fire benders. They had told him about all the trouble they've had with the fire nation while mentioning they're story about how they met Jong Jong the first man to betray the fire nation and live. Aang however did not mention the incident where he accidentally burned Katara's hands when he got carried away by playing with fire. After hearing about that Naruto grew to both like and dislike Jong Jong. He liked that he abandoned the fire nation because he also saw their horrible ways but he disliked how Jong Jong saw fire bending as a burning curse as if all it could do was cause harm.

That really got under Naruto's skin since he believed the deserter had to be wrong. Naruto knew that fire was the most dangerous element but he also saw that it was a natural and necessary element for life. After all without fire people couldn't cook their food, they couldn't stay warm in the harshest winters, without the sun trees and flowers wouldn't grow and blossom. Sure they needed water too but they also needed sunlight just as much. To Naruto he felt that Jong Jong was so busy blaming all the faults of fire that he's forgotten all the amazing things it brought to the world.

Naruto got along better with them all and they were happy to call each other friends now that they all had some level of trust in Naruto after getting to know him more but they knew he was hiding something from them. As if he was talking to someone that was not even there.

He looked below at the ice bergs in the ocean. "Oh yeah we are getting close" he thought.

"I visited the Northern Water Tribe about two years ago and I stayed there for about two months before returning to the Air Temple. The water tribesmen are all good people and I even made a very good friend there."

"What's the place like?" Sokka asked since he wondered if it was any different to their home while Katara was wondering how many water benders there were there since she and Aang were both in need of a good teacher.

"It's Big. Very big" were the first words he said that surprised them all greatly. "The place is essentially a city made of ice. It's very beautiful. The people there live in peace and harmony so far. They have had little problems with Fire Nation in the past but I doubt that will last".

"Sooner or later the Fire Nation will head their way" Aang said with a serious face getting a nod from Naruto.

"The Northern Water Tribe is basically the one of few the places they have not been able to conquer yet. They control the Southern water Tribe as well as various points in the Earth Kingdom. If the Northern Tribe falls then the world will be in big trouble."

"**And if the North falls then my brother Isobu will have lost his home"** Kurama said.

"Hmm you mentioned him once before" Naruto said remembering that talk. Kurama had said that his brothers and sisters all occupied various places throughout the bending world like he considered Fire Nation his home along with the Matatabi his sister who was the two tails. He had told Naruto that the Northern Water Tribe was once where the three tailed turtle had once reside and who loved the place enough to call it home.

"We won't let that happen" Naruto voiced to Naruto as Kurama nodded.

That was a conversation Naruto had with Kurama from time to time. No doubt the legendary fire spirit missed his brothers and sisters and Naruto had wondered if there was any way to bring them to this world.

But Kurama had informed him they were all sealed away into vessels just as he was. Though they thought that perhaps the avatar could be the key to freeing them since Kurama knew he was not getting out any time soon despite being friends with his vessel. But he yearned for freedom and Naruto could not blame him for that.

But now that Aang was with them who just so happened to be the avatar, then perhaps when he could fully control his avatar powers and tap into the spiritual realm, just maybe there could be a chance to free Kurama.

As he was in thought, Naruto was quickly taken out of it by Sokka's voice.

"Geez how much longer till we get there" Sokka whined but Naruto grinned as he looked straight ahead of them.

Naruto was going to answer but a distinct smell that he great remembered caught his nose causing him to grin.

"We don't need to wait. We are here" he said causing everyone's heads to whip around and look dead in front of them. Staring right in front of them finally was the Northern Water Tribe. And when they saw it was everything Naruto had described to them.

A giant wall lay dead ahead protecting the ice city and its inhabitants though it had a few dents in it that looked recently made.

"No doubt the Fire Nation paid them a visit recently" Naruto thought.

"Were finally here" Sokka uttered as he glanced upon the giant ice walls of the Northern Water tribe. Seeing even just the walls made him realize just how small and insignificant the Southern Water Tribe had really become.

They were going to head over the wall before a tunnel trough the ice suddenly appeared as if welcoming them inside.

"Looks like they have seen us" Naruto said as Aang directed Appa to fly through the tunnel so that they could show the Water tribesman they were allies and would not attack. Thankfully the tunnel was short considering Appa didn't like going in tunnels but the fact the tunnel opening was big enough for him to fly through kept him from acting up.

When they made it to the other side of the tunnel they found themselves in a giant box like structure and saw multiple water benders around them as the water beneath them began to move upwards and drew them in closer to them.

"I don't think we will have a problem finding any water bending teachers here" Katara muttered as Aang nodded his head in agreement.

When they stopped moving the wall in front of them then lifted and soon enough they began flowing down a river of water leading towards and through the city made of ice.

Everyone had to hold their breath as they admired the whole place. It was incredibly beautiful and it seemed so peaceful. The sun bouncing off the ice made it sparkle in a beautiful yet non blinding way.

Many of its inhabitants, men, women and children had all stopped to see them since it was not every day you saw two southern water tribesmen with a man with strangely colored hair and a bald kid wearing yellow and orange. Well that and the giant bison they were sitting upon that had a lemur on top it's head.

Eventually they got to the end of a big building made of ice that they guessed must of been of some royal importance. Standing in front of it was a middle aged man who had dark brown hair that went passed his shoulders with some of his hair was made into dreadlocks along with a small dark brown beard. He wore water tribe ceremonial royal clothes and had some sort of tribal necklace around his neck.

Standing next to him was a young girl who looked like a standard girl from the Water Tribe except that she had amazing silky snow white hair that went into two long braids on each side while another part was tied into a strange two part pony tail that met in another tied up part.

Sokka blushed at the girls appearance and already tried to think of some kind of chat up line while Katara noticed Naruto smile brightly when he saw her.

"Welcome" the man said as he walked down in front of them with his hands behind his back. "We have been expecting your arrival for some time now young Avatar" he said.

"You knew we were coming?" Aang said as he got off of Appa's back and bowed slightly to the man in front of him.

"Of course, we caught word of your travels some time ago and have been anticipating your arrival ever since. I am Chief Arnook, Leader of the Northern Water Tribe."

"It's an honor to meet you sir. My name is Aang and I'm the Avatar" he said bowing again to the chief.

"I'm Katara/Sokka, it's nice to meet you sir" Katara and Sokka both spoke in tandem. Then he turned to Naruto who grinned a little.

"It's nice to see you again old man" he said saluting the chief causing the other three to look at him as if he was insane at calling the chief an old man. While the water tribesmen around them rolled their eyes at the blondes behavior the white haired girl covered her mouth with her hand as she was falling into a giggling fit.

The chief stared at him before he let out a laugh and patted Naruto on the back. "It is good to see you again my dear lad. It has been some time since your last visit. I thought it would be sooner than two years but you are here now and we welcome you back with open arms" he said as Katara, Sokka and Aang looked at them incredulously.

"What on earth?" was the thought through all their minds.

"It's good to be back" he said before the young girl from behind Arnook ran forward and grabbed Naruto in a big hug making Naruto struggle to keep his balance.

"Careful Yue, you nearly knocked me over" he teased but hugged her back as he was glad to see her again.

"True but I knew you could take it" she said before she pulled away and stood in front of the blonde.

Naruto bowed to the girl. "It is a pleasure to see you again Princess Yue."

"Princess?" the three thought in surprise as Arnook introduced her to them.

"May I introduce to you my daughter and the Princess of the Northern Water Tribe Yue" he said as everyone bowed to the white haired princess.

"Please allow my men to show you to where you will be staying; we will discuss future water bending training after tonight feast. Today is the sixteenth birthday of my daughter so tonight will be a night of celebration."

As Aang, Sokka and Katara were shown to where they were staying, Naruto hung back with Yue. When it was only those two left Yue embraced him in another hug.

"You never told me you were coming. Why did you not tell me in your letters?" she asked.

"Well then it would not be a surprise then would it" he said as he began walking with Yue down the iced streets.

"Remind me again why you're not hitting that?" Kurama asked from inside the seal causing Naruto to almost trip over.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Naruto shouted at the fox spirit. "She is my friend. Why would I want to complicate that?"

"It's clear she still likes you. She did confess to you during your last stay here remember" he said making Naruto wince a little at remembering that.

Naruto had met Yue during his visit to the Water Tribe two years ago and they very quickly became friends. Plus since Arnook seemed to like Naruto and even defended them from a small fire nation attack, he was quickly welcomed to the Northern Tribe.

Though he did notice that Yue began to blush a lot around him and it did not take him long to figure out that Yue was beginning to harbor a crush for him.

That was confirmed when she confessed to him on the day before he left the north pole. It pained him when he saw the hurt expression on her face when he said he did not feel the same way. He had been as gentle as possible when he rejected her feelings and even quickly explained to her why he couldn't be with her. There was just one single reason why didn't feel the same way.

His heart already belonged to someone else.

He told her his story and even though he had informed Arnook and Arnook's most trusted friend and Water Bending master Pakku about his fire nation origins and his powers, Yue was the only one he told about Ty Lee.

She was accepting and was happy that Naruto told her the truth and they remained close friends. Though for Yue Naruto was also her first love, so there would probably always be a small part of her that saw him as more than a friend.

"So tell me how has the ass hat been?" Naruto asked causing Yue to laugh into her sleeve. She knew who he was talking about.

"Hahn is still very full of himself and his still made numerous attempts to court me" she said making Naruto roll his eyes in annoyance.

Hahn was a member of the Northern Water tribe and came from one of its few Nobel families. He'd taken a liking to Yue and was adamant on making her his wife. That and since Arnook did not have any sons he was aware that if he married Yue he would become the new chieftain.

Naruto of course could tell that was what he really wanted and took a major disliking to Hahn and the feeling was mutual. Hahn did not get along with Naruto since he hated that Yue spent so much time with him and seemed to still have some small feelings towards Naruto.

"Well if he tried anything I'm kicking him to the earth kingdom and back."

"That I can believe. So tell me how you wound up with the avatar and his group" Yue asked since she was aware of how her friend always managed to get himself into strange situations.

Naruto explained how he met them at the Northern Air temple and the small raid the fire nation attempted but she sighed in relied that Naruto and his group were victorious in the end.

"I saw the walls as we entered the city and I noticed dents and cracks in it. Anything I should know?"

Yue bit her lip. "The Fire Nation has been coming and going over the last few months. We think they are testing our defenses for weaknesses and weak points. We have fought them off so far but it's been too quiet and silent lately and we knew that sooner or later they would come for us."

"The calm before the storm" Naruto said with Yue nodding.

"My father has been preparing all warriors and benders to be on the ready and has set up bunkers and secret ships for the women, children and elderly. I hope it does not come to that but it's better to be prepared for the worst.

"That's good. Ozai truly won't rest until the world is his" Naruto spat with venom laced in his words.

"I agree" she said. "If they do attack I hope your friends from there are not part of their forces. I dread to think that you would have to go up against the people you care about."

Naruto sighed sadly. "I know but sometimes it's unavoidable. Aang and the others have already had run in's with Zuko. Zuko I can handle, Mai I can handle, hell I could even handle Azula despite the fact that I know she will want to have my head. It's _her_ that I fear having to see and face."

Kurama sighed sadly listening to Naruto. He truly missed Ty Lee but he knew his leaving would hurt her big time and he was dreading seeing her again after his abandoning of the Fire Nation.

"This girl that you care so much for. The one who holds your heart" she said feeling a small tinge of jealousy as he nodded.

"Yeah. I know I hurt her by leaving by I just could not stay in the Fire Nation any longer, not as long as Ozai was in power.

"I understand. More then you realize" she said as the two old friends continued to walk along the path, catching up and Naruto telling her about his adventures in the last two years.

* * *

**Later that evening**

Naruto sat at one of the large table that were lined up in a square like shape with a giant fire in the middle where the dinner would be cooked for all to see. He was sitting next to Aang and Sokka with Katara on the other side of Aang.

As a giant platter of leaves was given to Appa who was sitting just a little ways of to the side of the dining area Arnook stepped forward gaining everyone's attention to him.

"Tonight we celebrate the arrival of our brother and sister from are sister tribe in the south" he said getting a round of applause from everyone making Sokka and Katara blush a little from the praise.

"I would also like to welcome back an old friend of our tribe who has shown he carries the spirit of our tribe within us, Naruto Uzumaki" he said as Naruto scratched the back of his head as another round of applause sounded out.

"And with them they have brought with them someone special, someone we believed disappeared from the world until now. The Avatar. Once again more applause, even louder than before broke out with many rejoicing that the hero of the world has returned to them.

"Also we celebrate the birthday of my daughter Princess Yue who is now of marrying age" he proclaimed as Yue stepped forward causing Naruto to smile at her whom she happily returned back while Sokka sported a blush on his face.

Naruto could instantly tell he was smitten with the Water Princess. Not that he could blame him, he was also smitten by her beauty for a moment the first time he saw her before he got over it and never felt it again.

"Thank you father. May the moon spirit and the great ocean watch over us in these troubled times" she said as she took her place next to her father just as a group of water benders.

As they all watched with fascination at the display, with Aang and Katara looking in wonder at how skilled these water benders were, Sokka nudged over to where Yue was sitting and began trying his best pick up lines on her despite fumbling around a little.

Naruto had to stifle a laugh at his attempt and when Yue looked over at him he just mouthed to her "humour him."

So she did and began a pleasant conversation with Sokka and had to admit he was not all that bad. He may have been a goofball but Yue knew when someone had heart, and Sokka had plenty of that.

"Oh Yue" a voice called making the white haired princess frown a little and turned her head to see Hahn making his way over to her.

Hahn was a young man who was about seventeen years of age and had his brown hair tied in a small upwards pony tail. He was the normal water tribe attire but his shirt was sleeveless and had a necklace around his neck.

Yue sighed. "What do you want Hahn?" she asked as he stood next to her noticing the scowl appear on Sokka's face but didn't see Naruto eyeing him carefully.

"What am I not allowed to see my future wife?" he said.

"I'm not your future wife Hahn. I never agreed to marry you."

"But Yue you are only delaying the inevitable. I'm the only male in this tribe that is worthy for you. We all know I will be the future chief of this tribe. He leaned in close before Sokka spoke up.

"Look buddy I don't know who you are but she said leave her alone. Unless you want my boomerang shoved up where the sun doesn't shine you should listen to her" he said spinning his boomerang around in his hands which made Yue laugh in her sleeve and Naruto to grin.

"Who are you?" Hahn asked in a snobbish voice making everyone realize he was some sort of spoilt brat who thought he was tougher then everyone else.

Arnook looked at the small confrontation; no doubt Sokka had taken a liking to his daughter while he knew Hahn was adamant in getting Yue to be his wife. While he did not like the little snob, he was at the top of the list for Yue's betrothed. Although Naruto had been the one on top of the list before him.

Heck there was a time where he had thought maybe Naruto would marry his daughter since they were good together and he did not mind them being together. Though he knew the two were friends and nothing more. He had a feeling Naruto had feelings for someone else which he settled for.

"Hahn" Naruto called getting Hahn attention panned to him before he looked a little sheepish. "She said leave her alone". Naruto said before he then put his hands in an arrow like shape and did a thrusting motion with it causing Hahn to pale before unintentionally holding his rear before running off.

Both Yue an Arnook laughed while the others were a little confused.

"Thank god for the thousand years of death" he thought. It was a silly technique Kurama had tough him. Air bending and the backside was not a good combination.

"Explain later" Naruto said as the food began to get served.

After the meal and everyone retired to their homes, Naruto laid on his bed in the room he was sharing with his team mates.

He was glad he was welcomed back to the tribe with open arms, thankful that his good deeds for them had earned him their friendship though he snorted at how Hahn was still such a doorknob.

"Hey Naruto" Sokka asked from his bed o the other side of the room. "You are friend with Yue right?" He asked looking up from his pillow.

Naruto turned his head to look over at Sokka and nodded.

"I am. She is a good friend of mine that I made during my last visit here. Why do you ask?" He asked despite knowing why Sokka wanted to know.

"Well it's just you two seemed quite close, are you two together or were together by any chance? " Sokka asked wanting to know their relationship and where he stands.

Naruto looked saddened for a moment. "No we aren't together and never were, although I believe Yue wishes we were" he said with some regret.

"What do you mean by that, are you saying Yue's got a thing for you? " Sokka questioned a bit nervously.

"She did when we got to know each other after we first met. We spend days together getting to know the other until on the last day I was staying here she confessed her feelings to me…and I broke her heart by rejecting her feelings". Naruto said sadly.

Sokka was now angry at hearing Naruto hurt Yue's feelings. "Why would you do that!" Sokka shouted angrily as he stood up from his bed.

"I didn't mean to hurt her Sokka so let me finish my explanation! ". Naruto shouted back in growing anger.

Seeing this Sokka sat back down while calming himself down. After a moment Naruto continued.

"As I said I broke Yue's heart by rejecting her feelings but it wasn't because I didn't like her…it was…because I…already fell in love with someone" Naruto finished earning a surprised look from Sokka.

"Uhh…I'm sorry I didn't know" Sokka apologized while Naruto waved it off saying it was alright.

"So how did Yue take it?"

"Better than you think considering I let her down as gently as I possibly could but despite her attempts at concealing her pain I knew I had hurt her still. It is my only regret towards her since the one thing that would've made her happy at that time, I denied her" Naruto said bitterly.

"Yeah I can see how that would hurt someone's feelings" Sokka said with his head down before looking back towards Naruto. "So what's this girl like? "

Naruto felt a sting at that question before he turned around and got in his sleeping bag. "Sorry Sokka but I don't want to talk about this anymore" he said tiredly.

Sokka said nothing before he turned around and got in his sleeping bag too. "So do you think Yue will ever try to love someone else? " he asked wanting to know the answer more than anything.

"If you want to try and woo her then be my guest. Just don't expect it to be so easy" Naruto said rolling onto his side as he closed his eyes.

Sokka didn't say anything but as he slept there was now a smile on his face.

* * *

**Next day**

Naruto sat on a small ice wall as he watched Master Pakku stand in front of Aang, Yue and Katara. All three had a determined look on their faces.

If it was two years ago that Master Pakku would have never even thought about training the two girls since things in the tribe were done a certain way with the women learning healing and the men learning to be warriors.

It was only after a small incident when a small group of fire nation soldiers had infiltrated the Ice city and Arnook and Pakku had watched in amazement as Naruto took them down with the help of Yue and her water bending.

It took some time and a lot of pleading from Yue who said she did not want to be useless and wanted to help protect her home any way possible. Master Pakku was not happy about it at first but after seeing her determination (plus a little talk with Naruto) and how quickly she took to his teachings he agreed and she quickly became one of his favorite students.

Sokka was sitting next to Naruto since Naruto had agreed to help train Sokka a little built. Just to help him with his stamina and overall physical prowess. Next to him was Arnook who always took great pride in watching his daughter. It showed him that his tribe would be left in great capable hands if anything ever happened to him.

Master Pakku looked at his two new students with hardened eyes. "Listen up because I will not repeat myself again. I am your teacher and you are my students. Meaning what I say, you do. You show me even an ounce of defiance you will find yourselves bathing in the ice cold waters of the ocean. I will expect nothing but the best he said eyeing Aang in particular since from him he really did expect the best and more."

Katara and Aang winced a little with worry at the talk and threat of possible being thrown into the ice cold ocean but Yue calmed them both down.

"Don't worry. He may be tough on his students but that is only because he wants us to be strong so we can defend ourselves. Believe it or not he does have a softer side to him."

Both nodded and turned their attention back to Pakku.

"If you practice your bending everyday then you will become a master of Water bending. But like some wise once told me" he said looking over at Naruto letting a brief old smile appear on his face before it disappeared. Use your bending abilities to protect those precious to you.

"Yes sensei" all three said in tandem before Pakku got in his water bending stance and fire a torrent of water towards them. Aang and Katara got hit and stumbled backwards but Yue brought up a water wall in front of her which deflected the water beam.

The training begins now Pakku smirked before he sparred with Yue as Katara and Aang got up and did their best to mach them though both knew it would take time.

Katara already had a decent grasp on water bending but she lacked the power part but had okay control over while Aang was the opposite. Though he could water bend he was only at a beginner's level.

Master Pakku believed in a more full on approach.

"I see Pakku has not changed in his teaching" Naruto mused.

"Are they going to be okay?" Sokka asked as he watched Aang get blasted by another torrent of water.

"They will be fine. Though they will probably be a little roughed up by the end of it but it will benefit them."

"What getting blasted with a beam of water left, right and centre" Sokka asked skeptically.

"Well you know what they say Sokka. No pain no gain. Though I am impressed at how much Yue has improved Chief Arnook. She has come a long way" Naruto said as Arnook got a proud look on his face.

"That she has. Two years ago this would not have been possible but that small issue with the Fire Nation two years ago was a blessing in disguise. It showed the men of this tribe that the women are just as capable as the men are when it comes to fighting and being warriors.

Sokka listened before staring at Yue and watched as she fought back against Pakku and was amazed at how well she was fairing against him with his sister and Aang. For a princess she was amazingly strong.

"Let's get to work Sokka" Naruto said standing up. Sokka did the same and began copying the stretching movements Naruto did getting ready today's exercises.

So what first he asked as Naruto began to smile evilly. It caused a shiver to run down Sokka's spine.

"Twenty laps around the training ground" he said making Sokka's eyes go wide.

T-Twenty he all but shouted interrupting the sparring that was going on with the water benders before they shrugged and went back to work.

"You want to make it thirty while dodging fire balls and whirlwinds?" Naruto said innocently before Sokka hurried to complete the laps as fast as possible.

"I see your still a slave driver" Arnook said with a grin on his face.

"Chief Arnook I have no idea what you mean" Naruto said before he did his warm ups for the day.

By the end of the day Sokka could not even walk properly and was struggling to even stand. He sat by the side of the training ground with Aang, Yue and Katara who were all looking a little worse for aware as well.

They would have gone back to their rooms but they were amazed at the spectacle they saw in front of them.

They were currently watching a sparring match between Naruto and Pakku. One that had drawn the attention of many of the other Water Tribesman including the boy from yesterday Hahn who was scowling a little.

"Hyyyah" both Pakku and Naruto shouted as water and wind met in the middle of the grounds causing both attacks to fire all around making water and air hit the people watching.

Naruto then released a torrent of red fire towards Pakku who jumped back a bit before creating a large wall of water that took up the entire grounds. The fire turned to steam when it hit caused a small veil of mist to surround the grounds making visibility more difficult.

Naruto fire a bunch of air and fire balls towards Pakku but Pakku met them with his own balls of water that caused the fire to size out while dispersing the air.

"Wow" was all the four could say as they watched.

"I knew Naruto was strong but I didn't think he could match a master bender like Pakku" Katara said now feeling eternally grateful that Naruto was on their side. She could never imagine having to fight against him if he sided with Fire Nation.

"Naruto has improved greatly. Last time Master Pakku managed to win thought he did have some difficulty doing it and Naruto did earn his respect for giving him such as great battle. Now Naruto is matching him. It goes to show how hard Naruto has trained to get where he is today" Yue spoke with pride evident in her eyes at how well her friend was doing.

Her little speech caused Team Avatar to get their determination back and could not wait to begin getting stronger again so they could be as strong as Pakku and Naruto.

"You have gotten stronger Naruto. I can see you have taken your training seriously over the past two years" Pakku said getting back in his water bending stance.

"Well if I ever wanted to beat you I can't slouch now could I" he said getting a grin from the older man.

"Let's finish this in one move" both said as water wrapped around Pakku and fire wrapped around Naruto.

Everyone race yourself us said and everyone did as they were told.

A giant dragon made of water formed behind Pakku that mesmerized everyone that watched while a giant fox made of fire formed behind Naruto.

"Let's go" both shouted out as the dragon and the fox charge right for each other opening their mouths and letting out a primal roar that caused many to jump.

When they impacted the whole place felt like an earthquake just hit and both Pakku and Naruto were thrown back from the shockwave that was created.

A thick layer of steam covered the area but was quickly fanned away by everyone that was watching. In the centre of the training field a large crater had now formed that was meters wide and quite deep. Most had to whistle at it.

"That was awesome" Aang cried out with many in agreement as Naruto and Pakku got up from where they had fallen and staggered over looking a little worse for wear.

"We can settle with a draw for now" Pakku said with Naruto nodding in agreement.

"I'm going to get changed. I think I singed my hair a little" he said making the others laugh a little while he could hear Katara just beginning to talk to Pakku.

"**_Not bad"_** Kurama said. **_"You have gotten to master level from what I have seen from your battle with Pakku. I know Pakku is a Master level Water bender and to go toe to toe with him on even grounds shows you are just about there as well."_**

"Maybe but I'm still a little off Iroh sensei's level" he said making Kurama snort.

"**_I think you forget that Iroh is the best Fire bender to appear in the last few hundred years. He is called the Dragon of the West for a reason remember. But the fact remains since Pakku is almost just as strong as Iroh; it means you are getting close to equalling him."_**

"I guess" he thought before another thought hit him. "I wonder how strong Azula has become" he thought a little sadly making Kurama sigh.

"**_If you know the girl as well as you do then I think we can both assume her fire bending will have increased over leaps and bounds. She is a prodigy when it comes to fire bending so it's safe to say she will undoubted be around your level."_**

"Yeah I know" Naruto sighed sadly. He was truly dreading running into Azula because he knew how pissed she was at him.

In the first letter he received from Lana she told him the reaction from everyone of him leaving. Ozai seemed indifferent, many of the guards that Naruto had come to know so well and the people around the palace like the servants were sad to see him go.

He didn't know about Zuko or Iroh since they were gone when he left but he did receive information on how the three girls reacted.

Mai was said to have been even quieter and gloomy then usual and started pushing a lot of people other than her two best friends away. Losing both Zuko and Naruto in the span of a day was undoubtedly hard for the young noble daughter. Especially since everyone knew she harbored a crush for Zuko since she was eight.

He winced when he read about Azula. Apparently she went on a rampage and threw a week long anger fit about his leaving, undoubted thinking that he abandoned her like she believed her mother did. After days of burning down whatever she saw, she finally calmed down before training her with everyone thing she had so that she could one day make Naruto pay for leaving.

And then there was Ty Lee. Apparently the moment she finished reading his letter she had bolted out of her home and towards Lana's home where Lana found a teary eyed Ty Lee begging her to tell her it was not true. When Lana said it was true Ty Lee begged her to her where he went but she sadly told her that she didn't know. Since then Ty Lee has stayed in the city for about two years before he left to join a circus which greatly surprised Naruto but then again Ty Lee had always been a little kooky from the rest.

"I wonder if we'll see each other again, will you still care for me Ty Lee" Naruto wondered aloud as he walked on forward and entered his living quarters.

* * *

**Later on that day**

"So remind me again why we are going there?" Naruto asked as he walked to one of the high points in the Northern Tribe. He had wanted to rest since fighting Pakku was no small ordeal but Kurama had insisted.

"**_Because I wish to see my brother's temple again"_** Kurama said sounding a little sad making Naruto nod in understanding.

He really did wonder if there was any way to bring home Kurama's siblings since Kurama undoubted missed them. Though from what he told Naruto about his siblings, it was his sister Matatabi he missed the greatest. When Naruto had asked why he missed her the most. He swore he saw a small blush appear on the giant fox's face but it quickly disappeared.

He wondered if Matatabi meant more to him than just a sister but he didn't ask since he did not want to pry. He just hoped that Kurama would one day tell him though. Naruto was aware that Matatabi was the Two Tailed Cat and Kurama spoke about her from time to time.

They arrived at the temple like shrine and saw a few people putting down bits of flowers or charms in front of it. The shrine itself was very beautiful made completely of ice but had sea shells of all colors scattered around it making in stand greatly.

"Hmm Isobu would have liked this. He always did love sea shells, especially the purple ones. No idea why but he just did" Kurama said gazing upon the shrine. There were markings and carvings in the ice, no doubt telling stories about the mighty Three Tailed Turtle water spirit. That was confirmed by the big carving in the centre of it showing the form of a turtle with one eye with two three tails swishing behind it.

"Hey what's this?" Sokka called out coming from behind with Katara, Aang and Yue following behind. Naruto figured they must have followed him here and they all looked a little curious at the shrine in front of them.

They stopped and gazed at it all with little starry eyed looks. No doubt they had never seen a shrine made of ice like this before.

"It's beautiful" Katara said as she gazed at the carving in the ice while Aang nodded and looked at the centre picture. Katara's index finger ran across the drawings and the water from it running down her fingers.

"Got to admit the sea shells are a nice touch" Sokka muttered looking the shrine over.

"What exactly is it?" Aang asked. Naruto looked like he was about to answer before Yue beat him to it.

"Are you familiar with the legend of the nine tailed spirits?" Yue asked which all three nodded.

"I know a little but it's only from what my grandmother told me and that was such a long time ago" Katara said with Sokka nodding since he was the same.

"The monks back at the Air temple told us a little about the sprits. That they disappeared one day and have never been seen since then."

Yue nodded. "That's right. Many don't know that the nine tailed spirits sprits once guarded or protected certain places in the world that they felt in tuned with, or at least so I'm told by my father.

"This shrine is dedicated to the mighty Water spirit, the Three Tailed Turtle which for a long time guarded the Northern Water Tribe and became the protector of the North, or so the north decided to call it. From what I have read it had amazing control over the oceans and flicks of its tails could create waves so high they would reach the sky."

"It was said that the turtle spirit was a great friend of the moon spirit, another one of the guardians of the North and they would work together to protect our homes.

"But then one day our protector along with the other tailed spirits just disappeared without a trace, upsetting the spirit world and our world all together. The tribe built this shrine as a way of thank you for the protection the spirits gave us and its sends a silent message that we hope that our great protector would one day return to us."

Everyone listen and soaked in the information Yue had just told them. Even though Naruto already knew that due to Kurama, it was still fascinating to hear.

"Wow" Katara muttered a she smiled at the monument.

"You know I think grams may have mentioned something about the south having a protector but I can't recall it" Sokka said with Katara nodding as well but they let it go for now since they were so enwrapped with the North's Guardian.

"He has a point. Who was the south's protector, guardian or resident spirit?" Naruto asked Kurama.

"**Hmm if I recall it was Gyuki, my brother the Eight Tailed spirit** Kurama mentioned.

Naruto recognized that one. Apparently the half bull half octopus tailed spirit was the next strongest after Kurama but could live on both land and water due to it being half a sea creature and half an earth creature.

Deciding he had stayed at the shrine enough and now wanted to go and rest properly for the day, Naruto walked up to the shrine, sending a silent prayer to Kurama's brother spirits. He doubted the spirit would hear him but he gave it a shot.

The others all did the same and put their hands together and closed their eyes sending their own personal prayer to the mighty water spirit.

Once they were done they walked back together into the ice city for a day of rest.

* * *

**Hundred Miles out from Northern Water Tribe**

"Admiral" a fire nation soldier said saluting as he stood in front of none other than Naruto and Sokka's old nemesis Zhao who currently had a smug smile on his face.

The troops have finished preparation and will be ready to make the attack tomorrow.

Zhao grinned as he looked over to see a sad looking Iroh staring out the window and at the glaciers that began to appear as they got closer and closer north.

"Very good soldier" Zhao said dismissing him before grinning at the vast ocean in front of him.

"Tomorrow will mark the day the Northern Water Tribe falls to the Fire Nation."

* * *

**Chapter Nine Completed**

**Thank for reviewing and please REVIEW**


	10. Siege Part One

Chapter 10

Naruto sat on one of the ice made benches next to Yue and Sokka as they watched as Master Pakku taught Aang and Katara different and various stances and techniques that water benders have used over the many years.

Though Northern and southern water benders stances were a little different in some aspects, they were extremely similar from what everyone could see.

They could see that Aang was a little ahead of Katara in water bending for the moment but Naruto and Kurama had a feeling that was due to his avatar like powers and him being connected to the four elements.

Katara all though her moves currently lacked the power and brute force, her control and shape making of the water was quickly growing to a high level. She seemed to favour water like whips as her main attack though thanks to Pakku she was slowly beginning to get out of that habit of one move and making good use of all kind of different attack and defense techniques.

She had a bottle strapped to her left side that was always filled with water since they figured that if they were going to the Earth kingdom once they leave the Northern Water Tribe, there were not that many water sources nearby to each other, so she would need something containing water if she wanted to utilize her water bending in a dry area.

Sokka meanwhile had taken up training with some of the tribe's non benders and warriors and had begun to get into shape and raise his strength, speed and stamina.

Though Naruto quickly noticed that despite the boy's lack of awareness, joker side and idiocy, Sokka was actually very smart and very inventive for someone his age. More so then Naruto in that manner and Naruto had told him to utilize that as best as he could since it could very well be his quick thinking that would save them from a life and death situation.

"They have improved," Yue said as she watched Aang and Katara all the while making small animal shapes made of water dance around in front of her much to their amusement. Not long has passed since you all arrived here and they have already improved so much.

"Considering Katara had only a small amount of control over her bending while Aang had none with his water, I would say they have come quite far already as well," Naruto mentioned as Kurama agreed with him.

"What do you think Sokka?" Naruto asked as he looked at Katara's older brother but sweat dropped when he saw that he was just gazing at Yue with a love sick expression with a bit of drool hanging of his mouth.

_"That's a lovely sight,"_ Naruto thought thinking Sokka could have been a little more discreet.

"**I feel pity for the poor girl,"** Kurama asked as one of his eyes were open while the other was shut.

"I could not agree more" Naruto replied before they began to watch as Katara spared with a few of the water bender locals. Each match didn't last long as Katara quickly ended all of them and gained quick victories.

Aang who had decided to take a quick break was building a snowman with Momo while Sokka decided to join in and Yue just laughed the Aangs childish nature.

"He may technically be over a hundred years old but he still has the mind of child. But then again that is not really a bad thing," Naruto muttered to himself.

Naruto stood up with the full intention of building a bigger snow man then the group of boys just to rub it in their faces.

However he stopped when something dark fell in front of him. He looked down and amongst the snow was a small black substance.

Ash.

His eyes widened and looked up in the sky. "MASTER PAKKU," he shouted getting everyone's attention and they all saw him staring into the sky. Everyone looked in the sky and all their eyes then widened while a few people's hands went to cover their mouths in fear and new worry.

"It's raining ash. Which means-" Katara started before Pakku finished the sentence.

"THE FIRE NATON IS APPROACHING," Pakku shouted as loud as he could alerting everyone in the area.

As people and civilians began to panic, Naruto ran towards the walls to get a better view of the ocean in front of them. Sokka, Yue, Katara, Aang and Momo followed after him.

When they arrived on the walls they saw the sky over the ocean was pitch black and the ash and soot was beginning to fall heavier than before. They could not see the ships yet but they all knew they were coming and with how huge the black cloud of ash was over the horizon it was definitely a lot of them.

"How long do you think we have?" Katara asked Naruto as he was staring intensely out towards sea.

"Their ships are fast and can move through the roughest terrains. If I had to hazard a guess, then I would say they will be here within a few hours at the most."

As he spoke drums sounded off in the background alerting them that a tribe meeting was under way and no doubt Arnook was now aware of the incoming threat.

"Lets get to the meeting," Sokka offered as everyone nodded in agreement and headed towards the meeting hall.

**"This force will be large. Fire Nation has finally decided to bring the fight to them,"** Kurama said watching as the events carefully as they unfolded in front of him.

"Then we have to make sure it does not fall," Naruto offered with the full intent of protecting the Northern Water Tribe with everything he had.

* * *

**Meeting Hall**

The Fire Nation is on our doorstep. It is with great sadness that I call you all here knowing that some of these face I see now, I will never see again. But know none of you will ever vanish from out hearts.

"I call upon the spirit of the ocean, the spirit of the moon and the great turtle spirit to be with us in strength. I will need volunteers to take on a dangerous mission."

As soon as he spoke Sokka, Hahn and a few other members stood up. Katara and Aang were surprised while Naruto nodded towards Sokka understanding the seventeen year old wanted to play his part in protecting this place.

Sokka stood up and walked forward as he along with Hahn and a few others had three red lines put drawn across their forehead. Yue looked at Sokka who looked at her in return and gave her a smile hoping to ease her feeling.

Yue smiled in return and nodded at him.

"Naruto," Arnook called getting the blondes attention. "Do you have any information that could help us with this incoming force?" he asked hoping Naruto had some idea of what the best way to defeat their soldiers would be and give them some kind of advantage.

Naruto bit his lip. "Fire Nation solders though physically strong, they tend to lack the speed due to their heavy armour. Try and use your speed against them. Try and stay in pair's or in groups if you can. They try to separate their opponents and take them out individually. Their armour is also weak just underneath the arm pit."

Arnook smiled at him gratefully but Naruto kept talking. "The ash cloud in the sky is enormous meaning that the invasion force that is approaching us is massive. It is an invasion that has been bred for one purpose."

"To destroy the Northern Water Tribe. Ozai wants us under his thumb therefore we cannot allow any mistakes to happen and to never let our guard down at any point during this battle."

"He is right. Stay weary always and use the skills you have been trained in to their fullest extent. Fight and protect your homes with everything you have," Pakku added getting a cheer from the men who were fighting while Naruto remained silent.

"Do we have any idea who might be leading the invasion force?" Yue asked and noticed how Katara, Sokka and Aangs eyes narrowed.

"There is one guy I can think of. Zuko perhaps?" Sokka offered but noticed Naruto shaking his head.

"It won't be Zuko. Ozai would never have Zuko run and lead an entire invasion force. He believes Zuko is useless therefore he would not risk it. He will have an admiral leading it. Someone who he believes can get the job done."

"Someone like Zhao perhaps?" Katara offered

"How do you know that name?" Naruto asked. It also peaked Kurama's attention as his focus turned to Katara as well.

"We ran into him before we met you. The man was fully intent on trying to catch Aang. He even told Zuko not to get in the way."

Naruto snorted. "I am not surprised. Zhao has never liked Zuko and the feeling go both ways. The man is kiss ass for Ozai and has been trying to gain more and more power as time went by. If he is the one leading the invasion force then I would not be surprised."

Those who were listening nodded and began to prepare for the inevitable conflict.

Later on as everyone went about to get the civilian, women and children to safety, Aang, Naruto and Arnook stood together as they looked towards the ocean, waiting for the inevitable black ships to come into view.

"The waiting is always the worst," Arnook said as he gazed at the scenery in sadness. It's such a quiet dread."

"I am going to make a difference this time," Aang spoke as he gripped his wooden staff hard in his hands. "I was not there to defend my home when the Fire Nation attacked. This time I am going to make a difference."

"I'm just glad that now that Fire Nation is finally beginning to invade, I can be here to help stop them," Naruto said in all seriousness and he narrowed his eyes toward the sea.

"Do we stand any chance against them," Katara asked Naruto walking up to stand next to Aang. "The Fire Nation won't stop until everything has been burned away. Look at what they did to the Air Temples and what they reduced the Southern Water Tribe to."

"The outcome of a battle is never known before it starts, it's only during the battle we'll see if we can hold our ground and emerge victorious. One thing I do know is that this won't be a mere fight, this will be a battle of war and just because we may be facing an armada doesn't mean we can't kick their asses real good.

* * *

**The Wall**

Naruto stood next to Appa who had Aang settled on his back. To Aang right Sokka and Katara stood both with impassive looks on their faces.

In his mindscape Kurama had the same look on his face as he watched from Naruto's eyes as a small black spec finally began to come into focus.

They had all waited their alongside the warriors and benders of the Northern Water tribe for just over an hour just staring out into the ocean waiting for the first ship to arrive.

Yue wanted to be there with them and fight alongside them but Arnook had told her no immediately and that if anything happened to him then it was up to her to lead their tribe.

Yue did not like doing nothing and wanted to help protect her tribe, but the look her father was giving her made her succumb to the decision.

As the first Fire Nation ship came into view a small orange ball erupted from it and went into the air.

Many narrowed their eyes before realizing it was a giant fireball that was coming towards them and was getting closer and closer towards them as the second went by.

Some of the warriors began to panic before Naruto voice rang out. "I will handle it."

Everyone watched as the fireball got closer and closer towards them and yet Naruto continued to just stand there and look at it. Just before it was about to impact the wall and cause some damage, Naruto cocked his right fist back and then threw it forward.

When he did a giant ball of red fire shot out from his fist and at great speed went rocketing towards the fireball. The red fireball impacted the fireball shot from the ship and made an explosion go off in the air. Making many cover their eyes from the blast.

When the smoke died down they all saw that the wall was thankfully untouched. People gave a short cheer before getting back into focus and back into their formations.

On the deck of one of the giant Fire Nation ships approaching the Northern Water Tribe, Zhao stood in the deck looking through a set of binoculars. An angry scowl appeared on his face as his hands shook in anger.

"Full speed towards the Northern water Tribe. I want them all wiped out in the name of Fire Lord Ozai," he declared as the ship he was on along with the armada around him followed his words.

A little behind him Iroh looked through his pair of binoculars and had seen the red fireball that impacted the fireball before the explosion happened. He had a smile appear on his face.

"Naruto."

Back on the wall Naruto watched as more and more Fire Nation ship began to appear. He quickly hoped onto Appa's back. "Alright Aang lets get to work," he said.

Aang nodded. " Appa Yip Yip," he said as Appa then levitated of the ground and began to fly through the air and head towards the ships.

"Good luck," Katara yelled to them as she watched the two team members head towards the battle.

Appa roared loudly as Naruto and Aang rode on top of him as they flew through the air and went towards the ship that had fired the giant fireball.

"Lets drop," Naruto said to Aang as the young Avatar nodded before the two jumped of Appa and descended towards the black ship.

As Aang went to the middle o the ship, Naruto headed towards the catapults that were stationed on the ship.

Channeling his fire to his right fist and controlled the wind around him to slow down his drop, he cocked his fist back before driving it towards the metal surface of the ship.

When he did a massive burst of red fire shot all around him and both knocked some of the fire nation soldiers off the ship and into the ocean while the catapults took a lot of damage and were quickly destroyed by the intense and large blast.

Aang meanwhile used his staff and air bending to knock the fire nation soldiers into the walls and into the oceans as Appa dropped down beside him and swatted a few fire nation soldiers away with is large tail.

"Good job Appa," Aang said to the giant sky bison who groaned back in response while the two watched as Naruto swiftly got rid of any remaining fire nation soldiers before he roared loudly and smashed both of his palms into the metal of the fire nation ship.

When he did a lot crack could be heard as a loud split appeared in-between the ship before a couple of seconds later the ship began to part into two pieces making any soldiers that were inside scramble to get to safety while others plummeted into the icy waters of the northern ocean.

"Woh, what powerful air bending," Aang said to himself while Appa nodded his large chunky head in Naruto's direction.

"Let's get back to the wall" Naruto called as Aang nodded to the blonde as they both jumped back onto Appa. Appa then ascended back into the air and were about to head back to the wall before Naruto and Aangs eyes went wide.

They sat on top of Appa staring right towards the now visible and massive armada of fire nation ships. Neither were sure just how many ships there were but if they had to guess then they would have said around fifty or even more based on how it seemed there were still even more behind the horizon of their vision.

"You have got to be kidding," Aang said as he stared out at the massive fleet wondering in his mind just how on earth they were going to defeat so many ships with a very limited size army of water tribesman.

"Urm Kurama, I don't suppose you have any idea's do you?" Naruto asked while the giant fox spirit narrowed his eyes towards the enormous fleet of fire nation ships.

"**At this moment in time I am going to have to say no. You and the Northern tribe will have to hold out until night. The water benders powers are more powerful during the night which will no doubt come in handy against such a large army. Right now that is the only chance we have of winning or at the very least surviving the first day of war."**

"Right," Naruto said before Aang began to direct Appa back towards the wall where the defenses were slowly being put together in order since the massive fleet could now be seen as clear as to them and it began to spread through all of them and make them wonder just how they were going to survive.

As Naruto and Aang arrived back on the wall, they watched as the fire nation ships all began to prepare their own catapults and throw fireballs towards them in order to destroy the wall and give them easy passage into the giant ice city.

Sokka along with Arnook and Hahn had gone to prepare for the secret mission that would allow them to sneak onto one of the fire nation ships and try to make the ships fire on one another as well as cause confusion to break out throughout the ranks of the fire nation solders with water tribesman dressed as their own.

Though from what Naruto had seen, they were older versions of the fire nation armours. However with Sokka with them he figured they would be able to make it since Sokka did have the brains when it came to war time plans and ideas.

Master Pakku appeared next to Katara who nodded towards Naruto and began making small breathing motions as they all readied their water bending stances.

"This is where we hold them. This is where we stand and fight so that we can protect our homes and families. Give thanks to the moon and ocean spirits as they help to lead us to victory," Pakku said making many have the courage inside them grow stronger as they watched the ships in front of the gate get closer.

Once the fire nation ships were in range, dozens of fireballs were swept forward and sent spiralling towards the giant ice walls o the Northern Tribe.

Just as many of them got close, the water benders of the tribe forced the water from the ocean up and collided large splashed of water with the mass of fire.

Most of the fireballs were put out once the water hit them, though one did hit the wall and caused a crack to appear on a small part of the wall.

For the next hours, water tribesman controlled the water of the ocean and used them to shield the wall from the fireballs and the more advance water benders such as Pakku would create large glaciers of ice and put it in front of the wall in hopes of stopping the fireballs and giving them more time to right back.

The only problem was that the fire nation ships never came in too close for the water benders to really have the chance to attack and could only really focus on defending.

Plus as it dragged on, the energy of the water benders were beginning to dwindle since controlling large parts of the ocean was quickly zapping their strength. Pakku had remained strong due to his years of training and experience but even he was going to tire out eventually.

As the water benders along with Katara who was doing her best to do her part, Aang and Naruto were the only one who were able to attack.

With Aang advanced air bending, Appa's giant tail whacking and Naruto dual elements they had managed to take out about a dozen of the ships as well as many of the fire nation troops but it was only a small percentage with the amount of ships there were.

It seemed that the more they destroy, the more suddenly arrived in the distance making Naruto wonder whether there was any end to the amount of ships this armada had.

As he blew up another ship with his red fire Naruto looked over to the wall to see it had begun to take some serious hits and the top part of it had not crumbled away. He knew it would not be long until that part of the wall was completely gone and the fire nation would have an entrance into the Southern Water tribe.

Looking at the sky he saw it was late afternoon. The sun would not doubt be going down within the next hour leaving them in night with the moon high in the sky. They just needed to hold out until then since water benders powers were strong at night and during a full moon which if his counting was correct should be that night.

Naruto jumped onto Appa's back as he Aang and Appa made their way back to the city.

As they got just beyond the wall they all took a few deep breaths as while Aang fell on his butt and held his head in his hands.

"I can't do it. I can't do it," Aang repeated as Katara and Yue appeared. There are just too many of them. I take out a dozen and another dozen just appears to take their place.

"Aang has a point. Their just seems to be an endless number of them out there" Naruto spoke. "I don't know how many there are but they are not going to stop. We just have to keep them back long enough for the night to come in."

Aang confidence was taking a hit as Katara rubbed is back soothingly muttering soothing words into his ear trying to keep his spirits up while Yue has a downcast look on her face. Naruto gave her a one armed hug.

Sokka meanwhile was with the chosen group that planned on taking down the ships from the inside though had a lot to say about the fire nation uniforms that they had with them. They were a little outdated and made a few adjustments to a few of them in order for them not to get caught.

Hahn though was getting angry at the spotlight Sokka was under and said some hurtful thing to Sokka about the Southern tribe. It led to them getting into a fight and Arnook ended up kicking Sokka out of the squad much to Hahn's enjoyment since it meant he was not fully in charge of the squad.

Back on the front lines Naruto and Aang were back out attacking the Fire Nation ships with knew confidence mainly thanks to words of encouragement from Yue and Katara. Naruto used his red fire bending technique he called Hiken to create a giant fireball big enough to plough through three of the ships. Though it did tax him quite a bit.

As he fought a fireball directed towards him and was about to hit him before he kicked it away with a fireball of his own.

He looked over from the direction it came from and narrowed his eyes when he saw Zhao standing at the bow of the command ship looking towards him. His ship was bigger and more fortified then the other ships and Naruto knew it would take more to take it down.

"So this is where you went to little peasant traitor. You ran off to join the Northern scum," he taunted.

"I left because I disagreed with what Fire Nation was doing. No one should ever control the entire world and all that lives in it. What the higher ups of Fire Nation want is to enslave the world. All they care about is power and I will do my best to make sure that bastard Ozai does not succeed."

Zhao sneered at him before firing fireballs towards him. Naruto easily defending himself from them by creating a fire wall In front of him before pushing a large torrent of fire towards Zhao as well as spinning a full three hundred and sixty degree and pushing a large blast of air towards Zhao.

When he did the air and the fire mixed and an even larger wave of fire appeared making many watching the small skirmish pale and take cover. Even Zhao paled at the site and jumped below deck.

When it hit even though the commanding ship managed to stay afloat with some minor damages, two of the small boats around it got hit as well and were destroyed.

Just as Naruto was about to jump away he noticed his old sensei Iroh step out from the captains deck of the ship. The old man looked towards I'm and smiled before nodding to him.

Naruto smiled and nodded back too before he took off all the while Zhao was screaming bloody murder.

"Kill them all," Zhao commanded before he and everyone else noticed the light suddenly darken. They looked over to see the sun setting and the night sky beginning to set in.

"I don't think you will be able to fight them in the night commander. The night and when the moon is out is when a water benders powers are at its strongest."

Zhao gritted his teeth before telling all the ship to stand down for the time being, finally allowing the defenders of the Northern Water Tribe a chance to catch their breath.

The warriors of the Northern Tribe cheered when they saw the ships had stopped advancing, knowing they had gained some time to rest before dawn.

* * *

**Later On**

It was late into the night, well past midnight as the defenders took this opportunity to rest and gather their strength. The few that were not asleep was Naruto, Yue, Katara, and Aang. Sokka was currently with Arnook no doubt trying to get back on the mission.

The group were currently staring at the moon that was high in the sky for everyone to see and marvel at it.

"The legends say the great moon was the first to learn water bending. And the spirit of the moon was the first to teach our tribes how to use water bending so that we could protect ourselves," Yue said as Katara looked don at her hands.

"I have always wondered why my bending feels strongest during the night. I guess that answers it."

"When we learnt water bending, it was also when the great protector of the North, the giant tortoise of the ocean arrived. It came into our home and settled down here to live peacefully while it also kept the enemies of our land away. But it has not been seen for many decades."

"_The Sanbi,"_ Naruto thought as Kurama agreed from him from within the seal.

"The spirits," Aang said getting the attention of everyone who was listening. "Maybe I can ask the spirits to help us."

When Yue began asking Aang how he would do that he explained how being the Avatar makes him the bridge between the living world and the spirit world.

Telling Yue this she told them she knew a place that could help them. They left their position and she began taking them back towards the back of the ice city where they eventually got led to a temple with the symbols of moon and ocean on them.

Leading them through they eventually wound up at a wall with a small wooden door in front of it.

"This leads to the spirit world?" Aang asked making Yue laugh and Naruto gently whack the back of his head at the question.

Opening the door she led the small group inside and they were all left a little surprised at what they saw.

It was some kind of small oasis where the temperature was warm and on the floor was grass instead of ice. Ahead of them was a tree where underneath it was a small koi pond with two koi fish in them. One was white and the other was black.

Ahead of them Momo stood in front of the pond as he ran his hand through the water thought it got a small glare from Yue and Katara, obviously not wanting the little flying lemur to do anything that it should not be doing.

"This is the central for all the spiritual energy in our land," Yue explained as Katara and Naruto wondered how it could be so warm in there when it was in such a cold climate.

"I understand what you mean," Aang said as he sat down in a lotus position. "It feels so tranquil here. Like all my trouble have gone away."

As Aang sat down and began to meditate to cross over Kurama spoke in Naruto's mind.

"**The koi fish are the manifestations of the moon and ocean spirit. That is why they are hidden away like this and are so secluded. If an enemy got close to one of them and killed one them then it would lead to dire consequences to those in the Northern Tribe. There is a possibility that they would lose their water bending all together. So we must hope no one outside of the Northern Tribe knows of this place."**

Naruto nodded. "I am going to head back to the wall and make sure everything is still okay. I'll be back soon.

The two girls nodded as they watched Aangs eyes light up signifying he was in his avatar state and was making the connection to the other side.

Naruto raced across the rooftops and arrived at the wall to see all was still quiet though he could see the Fire Nation ships in the distance. He knew without a doubt that they were just waiting for the right moment to strike.

"Hey gaki look over to the side of that right cliff," Kurama said making Naruto look over towards where Kurama was motioning him to look.

When he did his eyebrows shot up when he noticed a small row boat built for one person just floating there. Who was in it was long gone. He even saw scorch marks in the ice and snow making him think that someone with fire bending tunnelled their way in.

"A firebender that might off somehow snuck in perhaps?" Naruto offered as Kurama thought it over.

"It's possible though its only a one man boat and knowing Zhao he would have sent more than one to try and infiltrate the village. I think we might have someone with their own agenda here," he offered as Naruto looked it over.

"We don't have long until the sun is up and then the whole force of the Fire Nation Fleet is going to be upon us once again" As he stood their master Pakku arrived and stood next to him looking a little worse for wear but otherwise alright. He guessed the man was not as young as he once were even though he was most likely the most experienced fighter in the entire north.

"Can you hold things here?" Naruto asked. "I would prefer to stick close to Aang and the others."

Pakku nodded. "Go, I can cover things here. There is not much time before first light will appear. I will do my best to ensure the wall stays up," he said as Naruto nodded and very quickly raced across the icy rooftops.

* * *

**Back With Katara, Aang and Yue**

"You will not pass any further," Yue declared as stood in front of her was Zuko, banished prince of Fire Nation as his scar on his face lay red and inflamed for the while world to see.

The now eighteen year old Zuko scowled and glared at the water princess as she and Katara stood defiantly in front of him with water whipping around them, showing him that they were serious about not letting him pass and get to Aang.

"Move aside girls. I don't want to hurt you but I will if you don't let me have the Avatar," he said as fire flickered from his hands.

Both girls continued to glare at him giving him their answer.

"So be it," he said before fire wrapped around both of his hands before he shot forward a barrage of fire bullets.

Both girls saw the fireballs shoot towards them but both began moving their hands and water flowed in front of them and formed a wall of water that when the fireball hit, they began to disappear into nothing more than steam.

As they did Zuko ran forward and jumped over the girls but a whip of water from Katara grabbed his ankle and threw him back and towards one of the mountain walls.

As they fought Aang sat there still in his meditative pose completely unaware of what was happening around him.

Zuko landed on the wall and pushed back forward, flipped in the air and kicked the ground making a slash of fire form and shoot forwards girls.

Yue eyed it closely before she spun around and made water form a water dome around her which quickly swept the fire away making Zuko scowl even more.

As he landed on the ground he powered his fist with flames and charged towards them and engaged them both in hand to hand combat.

While he managed to overpower Katara due to her not having much knowledge in hand to hand combat, Zuko was caught off guard by Yue as she began matching his blows.

"Just because I am a princess, it does not mean I do not know how to fight and defend myself," she said as she went to kick Zuko in the head but the fire bender managed to duck and dodge it.

Zuko fought against Katara and Yue for about five minutes and was gaining very little ground. Every chance he found to get closer to the Avatar, it was stopped and halted by the two girls who was using surprisingly good team work to keep the banished prince at bay.

"I will not let these little water bending girls stop me. I will capture the Avatar ad I will finally go home," he thought before he began letting his rage take over.

In his anger his fire around him began to get larger and became wild and untamed and hot. Katara and Yue put their hands in front of their faces from the sudden heat and Yue and Katara were caught off guard when another flurry of fireballs shot towards them.

They managed to get walls of water in front of them again but there were more fireballs this time and began to make the wall slowly fade away.

Zuko then made two whips form from his hands and from behind him both girls began to notice light peering in. They look in the sky and slowly they began to see the sun coming up, taking the water benders advantage in strength away from them and giving the advantage back to the Fire Nation fleet.

"Uh oh," both thought as they looked in the sky before it began to heat up around them.

Katara was caught off guard when a fireball came directly towards her as she was not paying attention and the fireball hit her and threw her to the side and into a wall. She tried to get up but the knock had winded her.

"Katara," Yue called before Zuko suddenly bounded forward and went to hit her away but stopped when another figure appeared in front of him and kicked him away and forced him back at the way back to the wall on the other side of the room.

Zuko gasped for air as the wind was knocked out of him and looked up and his eyes widened when he now saw a wall of red fire standing in front of him, stopping him from taking another step forward.

"_Red fire?"_ He thought before he looked over the fire and saw the last person he expected to see In front of him.

"Naruto?" he said aloud as his old friend stood in front of him with an emotionless look on his face.

"Hello Zuko, it has been a while hasn't it."

Zuko looked at his friend and shook his head. "Why are you here Naruto? Why are you taking part in this invasion?" he asked.

Naruto gave his old friend a slight glare and was about to speak but heard loud firing coming from outside that caused the ground to shake from how loud the firing was.

Naruto, Yue and Katara looked out towards the wall while Naruto's red fire kept Zuko at bay. They looked out across the ice city and their eyes widened when they saw a giant mass of fireballs, too many too count in the air and heading towards the wall like a meteor shower.

"_Oh no,"_ they all thought before the fireball hit the thick ice wall. The water benders on the wall did their best to stop them but there were just too many and giant cracks and chunks of the wall began to appear and fall off.

Before long the ship Zhao was on came storming forward at great speed as Pakku ordered everyone off the wall.

When they did the ship collided with the wall making a large crash be heard but the big fire bending ship continued making a huge hole in the wall.

Naruto, Yue, Katara, Sokka and the rest took deep breaths as they realized the real fight was only just beginning as Katara looked back at Aang.

"_Hurry Aang. We need you now more than ever."_

* * *

**Chapter ten completed**

**Not much different from the canon in his other then Naruto being in it and Yue being more badass.**

**Thanls for reading and please REVIEW**


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